Rachael McKinnon
Calm, practical support for everyday challenges
- Credentials
- LMSW
- Experience
- 14 years
- Licensed in
- Michigan
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Rachael
Rachael McKinnon is a Licensed Master’s Social Worker (LMSW) practicing in Michigan. She brings 14 years of clinical experience to her work and focuses on helping people cope with stress, anxiety, addiction, depression, grief, and life changes. She strives to create a calm, nonjudgmental space where clients can talk through what feels overwhelming and learn practical ways to manage day-to-day life.
Her sessions tend to be warm and interactive. She uses clear, evidence-informed techniques to build skills and reduce distress.
Background and approach
Rachael pays attention to how thoughts, behaviors, and feelings link together and helps clients practice new ways of responding in real life. Rachael draws on several approaches to shape treatment based on each person’s needs. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is used to identify and change unhelpful thinking patterns.
Mindfulness practices help ground people who feel pulled in many directions. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) supports values-based action when difficult emotions arise. She also incorporates tools from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and client-centered methods to strengthen emotion regulation and self-understanding.
Sessions often include skill teaching, goal-setting, and problem-solving tied to everyday challenges like sleep issues, anger, or relationship strain. People seeking help can expect straightforward guidance and collaborative planning. Rachael explains techniques in plain language and helps clients practice them between meetings.
Her aim is to support steady progress toward clearer goals and better coping in daily life.
How Rachael’s Approaches Work Online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then take actions that match their values. Online sessions can use ACT to work on commitment to meaningful goals even when emotions are intense.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on spotting unhelpful thinking and testing new behaviors to reduce distress. In remote sessions, CBT tools translate well to homework, thought records, and practical experiments between meetings.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) adds skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and clearer communication. Those skills can be taught in video or chat formats and practiced in daily life to handle crises or heated moments more calmly.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Rachael will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit their goals, needs, and preferences. She adjusts strategies over time based on what helps most and encourages active input from the client.
Online therapy offers flexibility for busy lives. Sessions are available by video or phone, and there are options for live chat and text-based messaging for brief check-ins or skill coaching. This variety lets people use the format that suits their schedule and comfort while still learning practical skills and tracking progress.
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
What kinds of problems does Rachael address?
What is her general approach in sessions?
How much clinical experience does she have?
What credential does she hold and where is she based?
Which languages are offered for sessions?
Can people outside the U.S. work with her?
What formats are available for appointments?
How are fees and scheduling handled?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 14 years
- Licensed
- Michigan
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Rachael
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point