Michael Knapik
Hopeful, practical counseling for life challenges
- Credentials
- LPC, LCMHC
- Experience
- 18 years
- Licensed in
- Virginia, Vermont
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Michael
Michael Knapik is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) practicing in Vermont. He brings 18 years of experience in mental health to his work. Michael takes a strengths-based, down-to-earth approach and aims to help people recognize the resources they already have.
He writes plainly with clients and focuses on practical steps rather than jargon. He uses a blend of methods rather than a single technique.
Background and approach
That means sessions may include ideas from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Client-Centered Therapy, and Existential Therapy depending on what fits. He often aims to help clients cope with stress, anxiety, depression, and mood disorders through skills and clearer thinking.
Michael has substantial experience with addiction and process-related problems, including drug and alcohol issues as well as behavioral addictions. He also supports people dealing with grief, hospice and end-of-life concerns, caregiver stress, and issues that show up around intimacy and relationships. Practical issues like sleeping problems, impulsivity, panic attacks, and low self-esteem are part of his work.
He also concentrates on aging and geriatric issues, cancer-related concerns, and challenges tied to isolation or life purpose. Sessions may involve talking through emotions, learning coping skills, and trying different strategies to see what helps. Michael encourages self-compassion as a part of growth and recovery.
Online therapy with flexible, evidence-informed approaches
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on helping people notice their thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then choose actions that match their values. It is useful for stress, anxiety, and life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps identify unhelpful thought patterns and teaches practical skills to change thinking and behavior, which can reduce symptoms of depression, panic, and mood disorders. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) offers concrete skills for managing intense emotions and impulsive behaviors, which can be helpful for issues like self-harm, anger, and emotional dysregulation.Finding the right mix of approaches is a collaborative process. The therapist works with each person to figure out which methods fit their goals and preferences. Sessions are adjusted over time based on what proves helpful and what the client wants to try next.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility for people with busy schedules or mobility limits. Michael provides video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging so clients can choose what works best for them. These options make it easier to continue work on stress, addiction, grief, sleep problems, or relationship concerns without frequent travel.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Less about arguing with difficult thoughts, more about loosening their grip and acting on what matters to you anyway. Values and committed action carry the work, which suits conversation at a distance.
Client-Centered Therapy
The direction comes from you rather than from a set programme. The therapist offers a warm, non-judgemental space to think out loud and work at your own pace. Online, this rests on the relationship rather than on being in the same room.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT looks at the link between what you think, how you feel, and what you do. You work on noticing unhelpful patterns and practising steadier responses. It suits online sessions well, because much of the work happens between appointments and can be talked through from anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 18 years
- Licensed
- Virginia, Vermont
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Michael
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point