Michelle Aletkin, MSW, LCSW

My name is Michelle and I would like to welcome you to a journey of self discovery and improvement. Reaching out for help is often the first and most difficult step to initiating change in our lives but I?m so glad that you are here! I?m originally from New York which was where I received my Bachelors in Psychology and Masters in Social Work and I am now a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Florida with over 13 years of experience working as a psychotherapist. I work with clients with a wide range of struggles including depression, anxiety, fertility issues, relationship issues, grief and those who have experienced trauma. I also help many first responders who witnessed multiple traumatic events as part of their work and helped them to improve their ability to cope with such exposure and remaining memories. In addition, I work with those struggling with adjusting to change, whether it is moving to a new area, new work position or dealing with a health issue (for example, Infertility, Diabetes, High blood pressure). I truly enjoy working with people to help them process, address and overcome their struggles. Overall, I curtail my approach to the individual needs of my clients, utilizing a Solution Focused and Cognitive Behavioral approach as well as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy tools (DBT) and when appropriate EMDR. Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence based approach that uses bilateral stimulation to reprocess memories or issues causing distress, helping us to overcome them. I also believe a motivational strengths perspective is extremely beneficial and offering non-judgmental validation, empathy and reflection combined with psycho-education enables us to build a solid rapport and assists in preparing you to gain needed insights and make necessary changes so that your behaviors will be in line with meeting your goals. Above all though, I believe the therapeutic relationship, being able to feel connected and comfortable to share your feelings with your therapist is most important. I sincerely care about each person that I work with and curtail my approach to meet individual needs.

What I most enjoy is teaching people the tools they need to deal with their problems and find solutions. I would be honored to help you develop and reach your goals! I truly look forward to getting to know you and having the opportunity to work with you!