About Michelle
Michelle McHugh is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 23 years of practice. She brings straightforward, practical help for stress, anxiety, addiction, trauma, depression, grief, and self-esteem concerns. Michelle writes and talks in plain language during sessions to make therapy easy to follow.
Her work draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, EMDR, mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and trauma-focused methods. She uses these approaches to address substance use, trauma and post-traumatic stress, gender and sexuality concerns, and mood disorders.
How Michelle works
Sessions focus on real-life skills like coping with change, managing sleep, and reducing shame. Michelle’s background includes inpatient addiction and psychiatric settings as well as outpatient mental health clinics. She also has long experience supporting military members through more than a decade of service in the Army National Guard as a behavioral health officer.
That mix of settings means she is comfortable with crisis history and long-term recovery work. In sessions she keeps the tone collaborative and nonjudgmental. She avoids stigmatizing labels and helps people create practical plans they can use outside appointments.
Techniques are matched to each person’s needs rather than applied the same way for everyone. Michelle is licensed in Arkansas and Alabama and works with adults on concerns such as coping with life changes, relationship strain, addictions, mood disorders, and issues related to prejudice and discrimination. She conducts sessions in English and accepts international clients.
Michelle lists 5 ways of working on the entry:
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.
Also listed
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Codependency
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family of origin issues
- First responder issues
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Mood disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
Training and background
| Registers | LICSW, LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 23 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Arkansas |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How EMDR, CBT, and Mindfulness Work Online
EMDR focuses on processing traumatic memories through guided attention and structured recall. It can help reduce the emotional intensity of upsetting events and make daily life feel more manageable. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact. Sessions use practical exercises and goal-setting to change unhelpful thinking and build new skills for anxiety, depression, and mood concerns. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices that reduce reactivity and improve sleep and stress regulation. These skills are often paired with other approaches to support coping and self-awareness. Choosing the right approach is a team effort. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, past experiences, and what feels most comfortable. From there she tailors techniques and adjusts the plan as progress is made. Online formats offer practical flexibility. Video calls let the therapist observe nonverbal cues for deeper work. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can be easier to fit into a busy day. Live chat and text-based messaging are helpful for quick check-ins, ongoing motivation, or when people prefer writing to speaking. All formats make it easier to maintain continuity of care across locations and schedules.Start online instead of waiting
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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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