Therapist profile
Michelle Garibaldi, LMFT
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist - Family and parenting
Continue with MichelleAbout
- CBT methods
- Client-centered work
- Narrative approaches
About Michelle
Michelle Garibaldi is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in California with 23 years of experience. She focuses on stress, anxiety, relationship strain, parenting concerns, trauma and abuse, grief, depression, and related challenges. Michelle names family and parenting among her areas of focus and offers structured, goal-oriented support for people juggling home life and personal struggles.
She uses clear, active methods rather than long theory explanations. Sessions center on identifying concrete goals, examining patterns that keep problems going, and trying small changes that make day-to-day life easier. Expect a direct conversation about what is working and what to try next.
Michelle draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. She also uses Client-Centered Therapy to attend to each person’s experience, and Narrative Therapy to look at the stories someone tells about themselves. Mindfulness and Motivational Interviewing are additional tools she brings into work when useful.
Her background includes many years helping people with parenting strain, blended family issues, communication problems, and coping with life changes such as divorce, aging, and loss. She has also worked with issues tied to attachment, abandonment, forgiveness, and first responder stress.
Sessions are practical and paced for people managing busy homes. Michelle helps set clear steps between sessions and revisits progress regularly. If you want to discuss parenting stress, relationship friction, or recovery after trauma, she will work with you to set goals and track change over time.
How sessions work
How Michelle’s approaches translate to online work
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening to a person’s experience and working from their goals. It helps when someone needs to clarify values, feel understood, and decide the next steps in their life.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It is useful for anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and breaking patterns that affect relationships and parenting.
Existential Therapy helps people reflect on meaning, choice, and responsibility when facing life transitions or questions about purpose. It can be helpful for midlife challenges, grief, and coping with change.
Finding the best fit for therapy is part of the work. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and what you want to change. Together you will try approaches that match those goals and adjust them as needed.
Confirm the therapist’s current session options before booking, since specific formats are not listed here. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy home life, allow shorter check-ins when needed, or avoid travel time. Many people find that regular online sessions help keep momentum between appointments while also fitting around parenting and work responsibilities.
Areas of focus
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
23+ years
Listed in
California
Languages
English
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns does she support?
She works with stress, anxiety, relationship strain, parenting challenges, trauma and abuse, grief, depression, addictions, and related issues.
How would she describe her style in sessions?
Her approach is active and goal-oriented. She helps clients set clear aims and tries practical steps between meetings.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has 23 years of experience working as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California.
What credential and location apply to her practice?
She is an LMFT licensed in California and practices from that state.
Does she work in languages other than English?
Sessions are offered in English only.
Can international clients work with her?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
How are fees and payment handled?
Cost varies with location; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
What do I do to begin working with her?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. A license can be checked with the state board.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If anyone is in danger, use the crisis numbers.