Dr. Michelle Burns

Dr. Michelle Burns is a Licensed Professional Counselor with two decades of clinical experience. She is based in South Carolina and focuses on helping people navigate relationship strain, parenting challenges, anger, and stress. Michelle aims to make beginning therapy a straightforward step and acknowledges the courage it takes to reach out.

Her approach is direct and practical. She creates a calm, nonjudgmental space where people can talk through hard feelings and figure out next steps. Sessions focus on concrete skills as well as understanding patterns that keep problems repeating.

Michelle uses methods drawn from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy to help with strong emotions, anxious thinking, and relationship strain. She also uses Solution-Focused Therapy to set short-term goals and track progress. These methods are described and chosen with each person’s needs in mind.

Over her career she has helped people with grief, trauma and abuse, depression, self-esteem, eating and sleeping concerns, career stress, and life transitions. Additional areas of focus include aging and geriatric issues, cancer-related concerns, divorce and separation, and women’s issues. She also supports people dealing with compassion fatigue and ADHD-related challenges.

People working with Michelle can expect straightforward conversation and skill-based practice. Her goal is to help clients feel more in control of their emotions and relationships. To start, a short matching questionnaire helps connect someone to her practice and schedule sessions.

How her approaches guide online work

Dr. Burns commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns. CBT is practical and problem-focused, and it often helps with anxiety, depression, and stress-related problems.

She also applies Dialectical Behavior Therapy techniques to teach emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and better communication during intense moments. DBT tools can be useful for managing anger and strong emotional reactions.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. She collaborates with each person to pick methods that match their needs, goals, and comfort. The plan can change over time as progress is made and priorities shift.

Confirm the available session formats before booking, as specific online options are not listed here. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life - for example by reducing travel time, allowing shorter check-ins, or making it simpler to schedule around work or caregiving. Licensed professionals can adapt CBT, DBT, and solution-focused tools to remote sessions so clients continue skill practice and goal tracking between meetings.