About Michael
Michael Shaughnessy is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) based in Florida with 39 years of experience. He enjoys tennis, running, and college football, and brings a relaxed, human presence into the room. He aims to create a safe space for people to talk about what brought them to therapy.
Michael often uses humor and persistence to help clients keep going through hard work. He has worked in many settings, including inpatient programs for substance use, co-dependency, and eating disorders, and has maintained independent practice for decades.
Background and approach
That breadth of experience means he has supported people dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, and addiction. He has also helped people address relationship struggles and intimacy concerns. Michael describes his style as eclectic with a leaning toward experiential work.
He shares life lessons and personal examples when helpful and asks clients to try practical steps between sessions. He sometimes focuses on balancing different parts of the personality - the parent, adult, and child - when that imbalance seems to cause distress. Clients can expect a direct but warm approach.
Michael says he never gives up and often mixes insight with practical tasks. Sessions include straightforward conversation, occasional humor, and exercises tailored to the person’s goals. People who reach out for help with stress, anxiety, grief, career changes, parenting strain, or recovery from trauma may find his long experience and steady style useful.
He works with English-speaking clients and accepts international clients for remote care.
How Michael’s Approaches Work Online
Client-centered therapy focuses on the person in front of the therapist. It involves listening closely, reflecting what is said, and helping people find their own solutions. This approach can be useful for anxiety, relationship worries, and grief because it prioritizes the client’s experience.Existential therapy looks at meaning, choice, and how people respond to life’s big questions. It helps when someone feels stuck, lost, or overwhelmed by change and wants to examine values, purpose, or the next steps in life.
Choosing the right approach is a joint effort. Michael will talk with the client about their goals and preferences, and together they will try methods that fit those needs. He often blends approaches and adjusts the plan as progress is made.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video lets people work face to face from wherever they are. Phone sessions require less bandwidth and can be easier to fit into a busy day. Live chat and text messaging are useful for brief check-ins, homework support, and ongoing contact between longer sessions.
Questions people ask
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What credential does he hold and where is he based?
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What session formats are available?
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Anger management
- Career difficulties
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- LGBT
- Parenting issues
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 39 years
- Licensed
- Florida
- Languages
- English
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