Securely book a free consultation directly in my online calendar or contact me at: michelle@michelleskinnerpsychology.com

Training and Background

I have worked in diverse community settings including the Salt Lake City Veteran’s hospital in acute medicine, The University School of Medicine Pain Management Clinic, and The 4th Street Community Clinic offering group therapy for homeless youth. I completed my clinical internship at the Palo Alto Veteran’s Hospital in behavioral medicine working with those experiencing health related stress in hematology and oncology, pain management, primary care psychology and inpatient substance abuse and relapse prevention. Prior to moving to Germany, I was working in clinical practice at the Homeless Veterans Rehabilitation Program at the Palo Alto Veteran’s Hospital. This program focused on treating individuals with complex case histories including homelessness, substance abuse, trauma, and severe mental illness.  In Germany, I AM NOT eligible to provide diagnoses or call myself a therapist. Therefore, I only provide counseling services.

Counseling Approach

I am currently open to accepting adults and older teenagers for counseling.  My approach to counseling uses cognitive and  behavioral techniques with emphasis on client focused goals. This means that I try to help people make lasting changes in how they approach and manage stressful situations. I help clients reframe unhelpful, inaccurate or negative thoughts about themselves and the world and focus on decision making and behavior change. When people can identify unhelpful patterns of thinking and behavior they can begin to experience and cope with emotional challenges in a more effective and less distressing way. I have developed skills with helping diverse populations as a function of my work in hospitals and community clinics. This means that I am experienced with differences in ethnicity, cultural background, religious background, socio-economic status and gender identity. I have also worked with both adults and teens in the LGBTQIA2S+ community. I acknowledge that our backgrounds and identities are important factors in how we think, feel and act in the world and have sought experiences and training to better serve diverse communities.

I offer counseling with specialties in the following areas:

• Anxiety and/or Depressed Mood
• Fears and worries
• Illness related stress (e.g. coping with chronic illness, pain management)
• Adjustment to life changes
• Life Skills
• Everyday stress management
• Behavior Change (e.g. smoking cessation, behavioral plans for sleep, reduction in alcohol or substance use.)
• Decision making skills
• Relationship stress

Fees

Insurance does not cover the services provided. Fee is €120 for the initial session of 50 minutes.  Subsequent session are €130/50 minutes.