Michael Southerland

Michael Southerland is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in California with 12 years of professional experience. He works with adults who are facing stress, anxiety, depression, questions about sexual identity and LGBT-related concerns, and issues around relationships and intimacy. He helps people who feel stuck after a life change or who are unsure what comes next.

Michael frames clients as the experts on their own stories and looks for strengths to build on. Sessions focus on clear, practical steps and on talking through patterns that keep problems repeating. He uses straightforward conversation rather than jargon to help people notice what matters to them now.

His work draws on Client-Centered Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify thoughts and behaviors that feed anxiety and low mood. He also uses Narrative Therapy and Solution-Focused methods to map stories people tell about themselves and to find small changes that make daily life more manageable. These approaches are aimed at decisions, emotional regulation, and shifting habits rather than quick fixes.

Michael has additional experience with attachment and abandonment issues, adoption and foster care history, aging concerns, autism and Asperger syndrome, body image and eating-related problems, and topics connected to kink and alternative sexual cultures. He also supports people dealing with substance use, codependency, and communication or control difficulties.

Sessions are held in English. People interested in working together are prompted to complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule a first session through the site's online process. The subscription model for sessions can be canceled at any time.

How Michael’s approaches translate to online sessions

Michael commonly uses Client-Centered Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in his work. Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and reflecting so clients can clarify what matters to them; it helps with decisions and identity questions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy identifies thought and behavior patterns that keep anxiety or low mood going and suggests concrete steps to change them.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. He collaborates with each person to decide which methods fit their goals and preferences. That means trying approaches, checking how they feel, and adjusting the plan together rather than committing to one method up front.

The original biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm the available options before booking. In general, online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, allow shorter check-ins when time is limited, and remove travel time that would otherwise disrupt a workday. Michael uses therapeutic techniques that adapt to remote conversation, such as structured CBT exercises, narrative mapping, and focused problem-solving, so the work can continue whether sessions are remote or in-person depending on the formats he offers.