Michelle McHugh, LICSW, LCSW

Michelle McHugh is a seasoned clinical social worker who combines extensive clinical training with long experience in diverse treatment settings. She holds LICSW and LCSW credentials - LICSW meaning Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and LCSW meaning Licensed Clinical Social Worker - and began her career after earning a Master of Social Work degree. Over more than two decades she has worked across inpatient addiction rehabilitation, inpatient psychiatric units, and outpatient mental health clinics, developing a broad clinical perspective and skills for complex cases.

Her specialty areas include LGBTQIA concerns, substance use disorders, trauma and post-traumatic stress, codependency, and work on reducing shame. Michelle also brings substantial experience supporting service members - she has more than 11 years of active service in the Army National Guard as a Behavioral Health Officer and has spent the past eight years working with active Guard soldiers and military veterans from all branches.

Michelle’s therapeutic stance is collaborative and client-centered, with attention to respectful, non-stigmatizing language. She integrates cognitive behavioral techniques, mindfulness practices, 12-step recovery principles, dialectical behavioral strategies, and motivational interviewing to match interventions to each person’s needs. She is trained and certified in evidence-based trauma treatments including Cognitive Processing Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and adapts these approaches to support lasting change.