Michael Valdes, LCSW

Michael Valdes is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Tennessee with 17 years of experience. He sees adults who are frustrated by anger, relationship strain, addiction, depression, anxiety, and life transitions. He works with people who want clearer boundaries, less reactivity, and better day-to-day coping.

Michael blends practical skills with straightforward conversation. Sessions tend to focus on patterns that keep problems repeating. He helps clients notice unhelpful thoughts, practice new responses, and try small behavioral changes between meetings. He also uses acceptance-based ideas to reduce struggle with painful emotions.

Clients can expect a focus on what feels stuck and what can change. He draws from cognitive behavioral tools to reframe thinking and from dialectical behavior approaches for emotion regulation and distress tolerance. Existential ideas appear when people wrestle with meaning, responsibility, or big life choices.

Michael has helped people facing addictions, relationship and intimacy issues, grief, trauma and abuse, and identity concerns including LGBT matters. He also addresses lesser-discussed topics such as attachment wounds, commitment fears, and kink and alternative sexual cultures. Work can cover practical problem solving, communication skills, and managing shame or guilt.

He describes therapy as a collaborative process. New clients begin by clarifying goals and trying concrete steps that can be measured and adjusted. Sessions are paced to fit each person's needs and focus on usable skills rather than jargon.

How his approaches translate to online work