01 · Who Michael works with

Michael works with stress, Anxiety, addictions and relationship issues

Michael lists 17 specialisms and 7 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Michael chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Michael's own words

What Michael says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

I specialize in building relationships and personal growth: I help parents get more cooperation and compliance from their children with less energy so that the can enjoy each other; I help couples beat the odds to stay happily married; I help all kinds of creative people overcome barriers and roadblocks to fully express their artistic vision; and I help diverse individuals and families adjust to the inevitable and often difficult transitions we all face in life.

My most successful clients believe that positive change is possible, are hopeful about the future and are ready for change. They understand that true and lasting change comes from within and requires patience and persistence. They value our time together and trust our relationship enough to do the work (even when it gets hard) both in and between sessions. As long as you appreciate creativity, risk-taking and open, honest communication, attend sessions on time, do assigned homework and are willing to honestly describe what is and isn't working, then I want to work with and help you.

I am dedicated to helping everyone I work with access and use their creativity to find and add the resources they need to the strengths that they have so that they can achieve their therapeutic goals as quickly as possible. When you're ready for success, then I would be honored to help you find the solutions that work and make the changes that last so that you can live your very own ‘happily ever after’!

I began working with and helping people in 1980 as a preschool teacher. In 1981, while volunteering for the Child Abuse Prevention Effort, I found my second calling. From 1982 to 1986, I worked as a counselor at The Bridge (aka, The Therapeutic Center at Fox Chase), a long-term rehab for teenage substance abusers. After obtaining my master's degree in counseling psychology, I served as the primary counselor and coordinator for Cape Counseling Services Family-Adolescent Alcohol Program providing individual, group and family counseling to children, teenagers and families from 1986-1990. As a program manager at Family Service Association between 1990 and 2014, I trained and supervised over 30 in-home counselors working with families in which children were at risk of out-of-home placement (usually due to abusive or neglectful parenting, but often due to teenage non-compliance and acting out behavior), a less intensive in-home parenting education program as well as three juvenile diversion programs. Since then, while building my private practice, I have provided individual, group and family counseling at a short-term rehab for adults with addictive disease, at a for-profit community agency, and in a federally qualified health center. In my various roles as teacher, counselor, coach, program manager and clinical supervisor, I have helped thousands of people change their lives for the better.

My vision is of a world full of kind, loving, compassionate people who live and work peacefully together to provide abundance for all. My purpose is to help people learn, grow and make new and better choices to improve their lives and their relationships so that they live as long, healthy, happy, loving, connected and meaningful lives as possible. My mission is to use my "signature strengths" of creativity, optimism and knowledge, and research-tested methods, to encourage and foster the personal, relational and spiritual growth and change needed to make those changes possible.

Michael Michnya, on the BetterHelp listing · read 9 Oct 2026

03 · How Michael works

The 9 approaches Michael lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Michael lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Michael's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Michael runs a session.

Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian

The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.

Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT

Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.

Emotionally Focused TherapyEFT

Built for couples and rooted in attachment: the recurring argument is treated as a cycle two people are stuck in rather than as one person's fault. Sessions work to interrupt the cycle and get to what each person is actually asking for underneath it.

The Gottman Method

A couples approach built on decades of observational research into what distinguishes relationships that last. Structured and assessment-led: it maps friendship, conflict and shared meaning, then works on the specific mechanics of how the two of you argue.

Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT

Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.

Motivational InterviewingMI

A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.

Narrative Therapy

Treats the story you tell about your life as something that can be examined and retold rather than as the plain facts. Separates the person from the problem - “the anxiety” rather than “your anxiety” - to make room for the parts the current story leaves out.

Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT

Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.

Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed

CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Michael practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Michael's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

   BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Michael at this point.

2. Naming Michael specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Michael is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Michael.

3. If the caseload is full

   You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

4. The first conversation

   A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

5. If the fit is wrong

   Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Michael

Built from what Michael actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Michael's - Michael has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

• “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Client-Centred Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

  Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

• “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

  Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

• “With 39 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

  Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

• “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

  On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential

LPC

Licensed in

New Jersey

Licence

NJ LPC 37PC00214700

Licence number

37PC00214700

Licence expires

30 Nov 2026

NPI

1013057066

Years in practice

39

Gender

Male

Languages

English

International clients

Not accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Michael's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 9 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Michael. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

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