About Michael
Michael Cotter is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) based in Missouri who helps people manage anxiety, stress, addictions, depression, and grief. He also supports those facing relationship and family issues, questions about intimacy, career strain, and challenges such as ADHD and compassion fatigue. Michael writes plainly and works in a direct, nonjudgmental way so people can start where they are.
Michael focuses on practical steps people can use between sessions.
Background and approach
He uses client-centered methods to make space for each person's goals. He combines cognitive behavioral tools to spot unhelpful thoughts and develop new behaviors. He also draws on solution-focused and motivational approaches to keep work goal-oriented and doable.
His background includes three years as a Licensed Professional Counselor and prior paraprofessional experience in helping roles. That mix shapes a style that balances hands-on tools with straightforward listening. He aims to make therapy feel useful from the first few meetings.
In sessions Michael often helps people untangle patterns that feed anxiety, addiction, or low self-esteem. He talks through concrete strategies for regulating emotions, changing behaviors, and improving communication. He also supports people working through trauma-related symptoms and the practical consequences of substance use.
People can expect clear plans, homework that fits their life, and collaborative goal-setting. Michael encourages steady progress over quick fixes and respects each person's timeline for change.
Approaches that translate to online care
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and responding to each person's needs. It helps people feel heard and build goals that matter to them, which can be helpful for anxiety, depression, and relationship stress.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors connect. It uses simple exercises and behavior changes to reduce worry, manage mood, and tackle unhelpful patterns. This approach works well for stress, anxiety, and many day-to-day problems.
EMDR is a trauma-focused approach that addresses distressing memories and the ways they affect current life. When appropriate, elements of EMDR can be introduced to help with trauma symptoms and their impact on mood and relationships.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to pick methods that match their goals and comfort level. Sessions begin with conversation about what is most pressing, then adjust techniques over time based on what helps.
Online sessions offer flexibility to fit therapy into real life. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when bandwidth and scheduling permit. Phone sessions can be easier when a shorter check-in is needed or when video is not an option. Live chat and text-based messaging give options for brief updates, reflection between sessions, and ongoing coaching-style support.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 3 years
- Licensed
- Missouri
- Languages
- English
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