About Michele
Michele Petersmark uses a client-centered approach to help people facing stress, anxiety, relationship concerns, and low self-esteem. Michele is an IL LCPC with 20 years of clinical experience. She meets people where they are and focuses on clear, practical steps that fit each person's life.
She listens carefully and shapes conversations around what matters most to the person in front of her. Michele combines Client-Centered Therapy with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy techniques when those tools match a client's needs.
Background and approach
She also draws on mindfulness and solution-focused strategies to build coping skills and short-term goals. Common concerns she supports include depression, grief, trauma and abuse, intimacy-related issues, and challenges with sleep or eating. Michele also works with problems such as ADHD, bipolar spectrum concerns, panic attacks, and mood or personality disorder symptoms.
She addresses life transitions, career decisions, parenting stress, and financial or fertility worries in practical, step-by-step ways. Michele aims to create a respectful, nonjudgmental space and to tailor the plan to each person's unique situation. Sessions emphasize strategies you can use between meetings, from behavior changes to mindfulness practices.
She encourages collaboration so people feel involved in shaping their goals. If someone is unsure where to begin, Michele helps identify priorities and sets short, achievable tasks. Her style is straightforward and compassionate, geared toward making small, manageable progress over time.
Using CBT, DBT, and Client-Centered Work Online
Client-Centered Therapy puts the person's experience first by focusing on listening, respect, and collaboration. This approach helps people name their priorities and shape goals that feel realistic and meaningful. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts and behaviors influence mood and teaches concrete skills for change, which can help with anxiety, depression, panic, and sleep or eating problems. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness, useful for intense mood swings, impulsivity, or relationship strain.Choosing the right combination of approaches is part of the work. Michele will talk with each person about their needs, goals, and preferences and will adapt the plan as therapy progresses. That collaboration helps find techniques that fit day-to-day life and lead to steady progress.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect, including video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video allows face-to-face conversation and demonstrations of techniques. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth or screen time is limited. Live chat and text are useful for shorter check-ins, tracking progress, or when someone prefers writing their thoughts. These options make it easier to fit therapy around work, family, and travel while keeping the focus on practical tools and steady steps forward.
Questions people ask
What issues does Michele commonly address?
What is her therapeutic style?
How much clinical experience does she have?
Where is she licensed and based?
Can sessions be conducted in other languages or internationally?
What session formats are available?
How are sessions paid for?
How do I begin working with her?
What this counselor works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English