Offices in Occoquan & Manassas

She/her

Michelle’s specialty is with providing a safe and interactive environment in which to tackle difficult subjects, deep-seated trauma, or just to say the things you never thought you would say out loud. Her specialty population is children and adolescents and she has experience in working with children from the age of 10 years old (who would let a 10-year-old babysit 3 kids? Apparently a trusting and obviously somewhat desperate couple from 2 streets over).

Children are her whole life.

Michelle’s experiences and settings in which she formed her clinical mental health expertise have been broad. Being attuned at an young age to the mental health needs of others, she advocated for single parents and immigrant families in her community as she worked as a Bilingual Family Service worker for Montgomery Community Action Agency, assisting single parents and children in a Headstart program. For years following, she worked in a residential group home setting for foster children, including one for expectant teens and immigrant minor youth. She led a therapeutic day treatment program as a Clinical Coordinator, helping children attain needed mental health support in Prince William County schools. Michelle has been a licensed therapist/counselor for the past 9 years and working in the mental health field for over 13 years.

Michelle graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology from Faulkner University where she had the privilege to receive the tutelage of Dr. Marvin Grunzke, well respected former Behavior Scientist at NASA. She then graduated with a Master of Science in Counseling and Psychology from Troy University Montgomery in 2014. She became licensed as an Associate Licensed Counselor (AL) in 2014, and later a Licensed Professional Counselor in October 2017. She is a board-approved supervisor for licensure in the state of Virginia and an active member of the Association of Play Therapy. She supervises Ashley, Shinavia, Victoria, and Sakina at Apple Tree for their independent LPC licenses. Michelle is currently under Meyleen Velazquez, RPT, supervision to become a Registered Play Therapist. She also completed her consultation and educational requirements for certification in TF-CBT, an evidence-based trauma model for children who experienced trauma of many forms. As of Oct. 2022, she is a General EMDR Practitioner in Training with EMDR Consulting.

When she’s not working (which is a nice 2-hour span on Sundays), she enjoys exciting travels to distant lands, dangerous spy missions in grocery stores, staying at Schrute Farms Bed & Breakfast, and watching the Office on repeat with her dog, Paloma.

Insurance accepted: Blue Cross/Blue Shield (Anthem Carefirst and Federal Employees), Medicaid (Anthem Healthkeepers plus only), Kaiser Permanente, Aetna, Oscar, Oxford, Cigna, Optum VA Community Care Network, & United Healthcare