About Michelle
Michelle Castellani is a licensed clinical social worker with a Masters in Social Work and 12 years of clinical experience. She has worked extensively in healthcare settings and in independent practice since 2007. Her background centers on helping people who are anxious, depressed, grieving, or struggling with relationships and addictions.
Her years in hospitals and clinics gave her a lot of experience with crisis intervention and adjustment to new medical realities.
How Michelle works
In independent practice she has focused on anxiety disorders, mood disorders, eating concerns, trauma and intimacy-related issues. She draws on straightforward coping skills that people can use day to day. Michelle often uses mindfulness and meditation tools she learned through a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course.
She also works with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - CBT - to help people see how thoughts affect feelings and behavior. Alongside CBT she emphasizes a strengths perspective, helping people notice and use skills they already have. Sessions are conversational and practical.
Michelle listens first to understand the problem, then helps set clear, realistic steps to move forward. She aims to work at the person’s pace and focuses on changes that feel achievable. People who want a calm, structured approach may find her style a good fit.
She helps with everyday stress, parenting strain, sleep problems, anger, career concerns, and a range of mood and relationship challenges in New Jersey.
What Michelle works with
The areas below are the ones Michelle selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Grief
Also listed
- Addictions
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Intimacy-related issues
- LGBT
- Parenting issues
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Sleeping disorders
- Trauma and abuse
Training and background
| Register | LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 12 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | New Jersey |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Evidence-based approaches adapted for online care
Michelle uses mindfulness practices and meditation learned through a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course to help people calm their nervous system and build attention skills; these tools can be useful for anxiety, stress, and sleep difficulties. She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - CBT - which focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing them with practical behavior changes to reduce anxiety and depression.Finding the right approach is collaborative. The therapist will listen to goals and concerns, try techniques that match those needs, and adjust the plan based on what works. Clients and the therapist decide together which tools to keep using and which to change.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video lets people work face-to-face when schedules allow. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text-based messaging work well for brief check-ins, homework support, or when a shorter touchpoint is helpful between sessions.
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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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