Michelle Lakefield, LPC

Michelle Lakefield is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in New Jersey with 20 years of experience. She focuses on helping people who feel overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, depression, grief, or relationship and intimacy concerns. Michelle aims to make first steps easier and offers a calm, nonjudgmental space to talk about what matters most.

Her approach centers on practical strategies and attentive listening. She uses cognitive behavioral techniques to help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. She also draws on client-centered work to prioritize each person's experience and pace.

Michelle uses solution-focused methods to set clear, achievable goals and to track small wins. When deeper patterns cause trouble, she may work with parts-based ideas from Internal Family Systems to help people understand different internal voices and needs.

Across 20 years she has supported people through life changes, parenting strain, caregiver stress, bipolar mood challenges, and trauma and abuse recovery. She also addresses issues such as eating concerns, ADHD, codependency, and communication problems.

Sessions can help a person build coping skills, manage strong emotions like anger, or repair connection with a partner or family member. Michelle works in plain language and favors tools that fit day-to-day life. If you are ready to start, she encourages taking the next step toward better balance.

How Michelle’s Approaches Work Online

Michelle commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify patterns of thinking that feed anxiety or depression and then practice concrete ways to change those patterns. CBT is useful for problems like stress, panic, low mood, and unhelpful habits.

She also uses Client-Centered Therapy, which centers on listening and validating a person's experience while they decide what changes to make. This approach helps when someone needs time to feel understood before trying new strategies.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Michelle will discuss goals and preferences and adapt methods over time. She collaborates with each person to pick techniques that fit their life and values rather than imposing a single method.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls let visual cues guide conversations and mirror many in-person sessions. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text-based messaging work well for quick check-ins, tracking progress between visits, or shorter coaching-style support. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule and keep momentum between meetings.