Michelle Garibaldi , LMFT

Michelle Garibaldi is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who brings 23 years of clinical experience to her work in California. She greets each person with a warm, empathic presence and approaches therapy as a collaborative process, partnering with clients to clarify goals and create practical steps toward meaningful change.

As an LMFT - which stands for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist - Michelle combines an active, results-oriented style with a compassionate stance. Her approach draws on techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, narrative therapy, and solution-focused methods to help clients identify patterns, test new ways of coping, and build stronger relationships with themselves and others.

Michelle has particular experience addressing family problems, parenting and fatherhood issues, relationship concerns, survivor work for abuse, grief and trauma, and challenges affecting children and adolescents. She works with a wide range of life changes, including career transitions, caregiving and aging concerns, and struggles with stress, anxiety, or substance-related issues.

Michelle aims to walk alongside clients in a respectful, nonjudgmental way while helping them move toward greater balance and stability. Her practice emphasizes clear goals, practical interventions, and steady support as clients pursue a more satisfying and resilient life.

Approaches That Shape Online Care

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on the client's own perspective and strengths. The therapist provides empathetic support and helps clients explore their values and goals, which is useful for relationship concerns, life transitions, and self-esteem work.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) examines the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It teaches practical skills to challenge unhelpful thinking and build healthier routines, making it effective for anxiety, depression, stress, and coping with change.

Mindfulness Therapy cultivates present-moment awareness and gentle acceptance of inner experience. It can help reduce reactivity to worry or strong emotions and support better sleep, stress management, and emotional regulation.

Finding the right combination of approaches is part of the therapeutic process. Michelle collaborates with each person to identify which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences, adjusting the plan over time so therapy remains relevant and effective.

Online sessions make it possible to receive care in ways that suit a busy life - through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options offer flexibility in scheduling, the ability to continue work from different locations, and multiple formats to match comfort and communication style while working with licensed professionals and therapists.