Michelle Gossard, LMHC

Michelle Gossard is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) based in Iowa with 15 years of experience. She listens first and helps people name what feels off. Michelle emphasizes practical steps clients can use right away to feel steadier in day-to-day life.

Michelle creates a calm space for people to talk about stress, anxiety, grief, and relationship struggles. She treats each person as the expert on their life and helps them notice strengths they already have. Sessions often include learning ways to manage thoughts, emotions, and reactions.

Her work uses straightforward methods from cognitive behavioral therapy, solution-focused therapy, and client-centered therapy. That means she helps people test small changes, build helpful habits, and make choices that fit their goals. Michelle supports those coping with anger, low self-esteem, social anxiety, and panic symptoms.

She also offers focused help around parenting concerns, career stress, ADHD, and transitions like midlife or pregnancy-related changes. Aging and geriatric issues are listed among her additional focuses when relevant to a person’s situation.

Michelle aims to help people become more accountable to their goals and to handle setbacks without getting stuck. Her style is practical, respectful, and collaborative. For someone wanting clear tools and steady support, she aims to make therapy feel useful and doable.

To begin, a short intake step matches people to a scheduling option and lets Michelle and the client decide next steps together.

Therapeutic approaches and online care

Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and following the client's pace. The therapist supports each person as the expert on their life and reflects back what matters most to them, which helps build trust and clarity.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts, feelings, and actions link together. It provides simple exercises to change unhelpful thinking and to practice new behaviors for anxiety, depression, panic symptoms, and stress.

Solution-focused therapy emphasizes small, practical steps that move a person toward their goals. Sessions often set concrete, short-term goals and check progress in ways that feel manageable.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will work with the client to try methods that fit their needs, goals, and preferences, and adjust as they go. People often combine ideas from more than one approach to suit their situation.

If you are considering online therapy, confirm the available session formats before booking since the profile does not list them. Online care can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and remove travel time. Therapists can guide homework between sessions and use real-life examples from your day to practice new skills.