Michele Daniel Counseling-Child and Adolescent Therapy Specialist

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor who offers many years of experience working with youth in various mental health and educational settings. I specialize in providing counseling to children, teens, young adults, and their families to help them navigate through difficult life transitions and change. I use a strengths-based approach which is supported by research in positive psychology. Traditional therapeutic models focus on trying to “fix what is wrong” with an individual, but I prefer to identify and enhance unique strengths and talents to help my clients build fortitude and resilience. I feel they should not just have to learn skills to “cope”, but also gain and practice strategies to thrive and excel. I have worked in a therapeutic boarding school setting, as a Mental Health Clinician and Consultant at the Vanderbilt Center for Psychotherapy Research and Policy, and also provided mental health counseling in a busy outpatient clinic. Additionally, I served as the Director for our state's youth suicide prevention program where I provided counseling and mental health training to individuals throughout Tennessee. Most recently, I held the position of Head School Counselor in charge of all mental health services at the oldest private boarding school in the Southeast, serving 320 students and their families. My many years of experience have helped me learn the importance of developing a positive and trusting therapeutic relationship, which I believe is the foundation of truly helping young people achieve positive growth and change. I understand that making the decision to begin therapy can be a difficult one, not to mention navigating the process of getting started and finding a therapist who is the right fit therapeutically and personally. I have been told my demeanor is genuine and approachable, and I believe I can help make the therapeutic process beneficial and enriching from the first day we meet.