About Michele
Michele Bussell is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) practicing in California. She draws on six years of clinical work to help people facing stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar mood swings, and relationship struggles. Her background includes crisis residential treatment, school-based counseling, adult drug court substance programs, and community behavioral health centers.
Those settings gave her hands-on experience with mood disorders, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress, and disruptive mood dysregulation issues.
How Michele works
Michele believes people know their own lives best and brings a respectful, nonjudgmental stance to sessions. She encourages clients to name feelings, notice strengths, and try small changes that build confidence and motivation. The focus is practical - clearer routines, better communication, and tools to manage intense emotions.
She also addresses concerns tied to abandonment, attachment, control, guilt and shame, and the strain of divorce or separation. Michele supports women navigating social anxiety, workplace problems, and young adult transitions as part of her broader focus areas. Sessions aim to be collaborative and paced to the person’s needs.
Michele helps people explore options, set realistic goals, and practice skills between meetings. Taking that first step can feel hard, and she acknowledges the courage it takes to begin.
What Michele works with
The areas below are the ones Michele selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Control issues
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Guilt and shame
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LMFT |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 6 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | California |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
The practice uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques focused on practical skills and emotional regulation. One common approach emphasizes teaching concrete coping strategies for anxiety and panic, such as breathing, grounding, and step-by-step exposure to feared situations; these tools help reduce immediate distress and improve day-to-day functioning. Another approach centers on mood management for depression and bipolar-related symptoms by helping people structure routines, monitor mood changes, and plan small behavioral experiments to increase motivation and activity.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, track what helps, and adjust techniques to fit needs and preferences. That collaborative process means methods may shift over time based on progress and feedback.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation, phone sessions can work when bandwidth is limited, live chat supports short check-ins, and messaging helps people reflect between meetings. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and keep continuity when schedules change.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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