About Michael
Michael Peterson is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people manage stress and anxiety. He focuses on everyday struggles like grief, addictions, relationship problems, and changes at work or home. Michael aims to make starting therapy feel straightforward and manageable for worried people.
He uses plain talk and steady listening in sessions. People can expect a calm space to say what matters most and to try small, practical steps between meetings.
Background and approach
He draws on five years of clinical experience as an LCSW working in Illinois. Michael’s background includes roles as a caseworker, crisis clinician, and therapist. Those different settings shaped how he responds to urgent concerns and longer-term challenges.
He combines practical problem solving with attention to what a person values and wants to protect in their life. In sessions he guides people toward clearer choices, coping skills, and ways to handle strong emotions. That can mean changing unhelpful thoughts, practicing present-moment awareness, or building motivation to reduce substance use.
He helps people set small goals that fit daily life. Michael is comfortable addressing issues such as depression, trauma and abuse, ADHD, parenting strain, caregiver stress, and compassion fatigue. He also supports people dealing with identity and relationship questions.
His approach is collaborative and goal-oriented, focused on steady progress rather than quick fixes.
Approaches you can use online with a licensed therapist
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people notice unhelpful thoughts and choose actions that match their values. It is often used for anxiety, stress, and coping with life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on changing thought and behavior patterns that keep problems going, and it can help with depression, anxiety, and substance use.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, preferences, and what feels most useful. Together they decide whether to emphasize ACT, CBT, or another method and adjust the plan as progress is made.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy fit into a busy life. Video allows face-to-face conversation and teaching of skills. Phone sessions can work when bandwidth is limited or for quick check-ins. Live chat and texting make it easier to check in between meetings and to get short, focused support when needed.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Also listed
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- 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
- Immigration issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 5 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
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