Michelle McHugh , LICSW, LCSW

Michelle McHugh is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 23 years of experience. She combines practical therapy methods with a straightforward, compassionate style. Michelle often supports people dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, addictions, and women's issues. She practices in Arkansas and offers services in English.

Michelle began her career after earning a Master of Social Work from New York University. Her background includes work in inpatient addiction treatment, psychiatric facilities, and outpatient mental health clinics. She has long experience addressing substance use, trauma and post-traumatic stress, shame, and codependency.

Her approach blends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, EMDR, mindfulness, Motivational Interviewing, and trauma-focused techniques. Sessions focus on concrete strategies for coping, breaking unhelpful patterns, and building everyday skills. She favors a collaborative style and avoids stigmatizing labels.

Michelle has active military behavioral health experience through more than a decade of service in the Army National Guard, and she has worked with veterans and active guard members. That background informs her work with trauma, first responder issues, and related concerns such as grief and mood disorders.

In sessions she uses practical tools like thought records, grounding exercises, and motivational conversations to support change. She also helps people facing life transitions, relationship strain, gender identity questions, and issues tied to prejudice and discrimination. Therapy is paced to each person's needs and goals.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online care

Michelle uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors; this typically involves homework, thought records, and clear steps you can try between sessions. EMDR is offered as a trauma-focused option that works with processing distressing memories through guided bilateral stimulation and focused recall, aimed at reducing the intensity of those memories.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and past experiences to decide whether CBT, EMDR, mindfulness practices, or another method fits best. That decision is collaborative and can change as needs evolve.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging so therapy can fit into busy lives. Video lets you see verbal and nonverbal cues, phone calls use less bandwidth for simpler check-ins, live chat can be useful for brief troubleshooting, and messaging supports short updates or ongoing reflection between sessions. These options aim to make scheduling easier and to match the method of communication to the task at hand.