About Michelle
Michelle Zaragoza is a licensed clinical social worker in California who helps people manage stress and anxiety. She supports adults facing relationship strain, career challenges, and major life changes. Michelle offers clear, practical guidance for people feeling stuck or overwhelmed.
She takes a collaborative, down-to-earth approach in sessions. Conversations focus on real goals and small steps that fit everyday life. Michelle offers direct feedback and concrete skill-building rather than long, abstract talk.
Background and approach
Her work addresses patterns that come from family of origin, feelings of guilt or shame, and questions about life purpose. She also helps with mood concerns, self-love, women's issues, and workplace strain. Sessions aim to make daily routines and relationships feel more manageable.
Michelle uses a mix of mindful awareness, narrative exploration, and acceptance-focused strategies to help people notice what matters and act on it. She may also use techniques to process distress tied to past events when that feels helpful. The focus stays on what clients want to change and how to get there.
With nine years of experience as an LCSW, she balances practical tools with empathetic listening. People who prefer straightforward, goal-focused work will find an emphasis on usable skills and steady progress. Getting started begins with a short questionnaire and scheduling a first session.
People meet with Michelle by video, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging, picking the format that best fits their day-to-day life.
How Michelle’s approaches translate to online work
Michelle often uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people notice what’s important to them and take values-driven steps even when worry or fear is present. That approach focuses on small, practical actions and mindfulness exercises to reduce the hold of anxious thoughts.She also draws on Client-Centered Therapy, which centers the conversation on the person’s experience and priorities. This means sessions include reflective listening and collaborative planning so clients feel heard while working toward clear goals.
Finding the right approach is part of the process, and Michelle treats method as flexible. She will talk with clients about their needs, goals, and preferences and use that discussion to shape the mix of strategies. The partnership helps decide when acceptance work, narrative exploration, or processing techniques make the most sense.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is useful for deeper conversations and exercises that benefit from visual cues. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is low or for a focused check-in. Live chat and text messaging offer quick touchpoints or ongoing check-ins between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule and to continue work from different places.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Career difficulties
Also listed
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 9 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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