Hope+Wellness

Dr. Michelle Hallahan
EdD, LPC, CCMHC, ACS, BCTP-III

Director of Training + Development
Licensed Professional Counselor
Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor
Approved Clinical Supervisor
Board Certified Telehealth Professional - III

Hi there. I’m Dr. Hallahan :)

Dr. Michelle Hallahan,
EdD, LPC CCMHC, ACS, BCTP-III

Director of Training + Development
Licensed Professional Counselor
Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor
Approved Clinical Supervisor
Board Certified Telehealth Professional - III

Licensed in: Virginia, New York, Maryland, Washington DC
Locations: Teletherapy

(she/her/hers)

I am a licensed professional counselor specializing in working with children and adolescents. I treat a wide variety of mental health concerns, with expertise in working with challenging and difficult to treat youth with a broad range of complex emotional and behavioral issues, including mood, anxiety, anger, defiance, ADHD, and trauma. I have extensive experience working with children, teens, and parents in a variety of settings, including residential, school, and outpatient centers.

Another area of my expertise is working with young adults and adults struggling with mood, anxiety, life transition and adjustment concerns. I also have special interests in working with young adults to help them further discover their identity and strengths, and to launch into adulthood.

I obtained my graduate training from CACREP-accredited programs, including a Master of Science in School Counseling from Syracuse University, and a Doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision from the American School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University. I am also board certified in clinical mental health counseling.

Philosophy

I strive to help my clients feel understood, engage in healthy and positive behaviors, and feel confident in their own skin. I am passionate about my work with clients and work to create a safe, genuine, non-judgmental environment to help them discover their own unique sources of strength, resilience, and potential. I use an eclectic, person-centered approach to treatment, integrating compassion and warmth with research-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and positive psychotherapy approaches, tailoring treatment to target the specific, unique needs of each client to achieve the results they desire.

Specialty Areas

children and adolescents

I treat a wide variety of mental health concerns in children and adolescents with expertise in a broad range of complex behavioral and adjustment issues, including mood, anxiety, anger, defiance, ADHD, and trauma.

young adulthood, self-acceptance, discovering your identity, life transitions

I work with young adults struggling to navigating depression, anxiety, relationships, life stressors, and times of transition in their 20s and early 30s, looking to discover their identities, and their unique strengths and potential.

life adjustment and transitions, life stressors

I work with adults with mood, anxiety, and adjustment concerns, in the process of navigating significant life stressors, events, and times of transition.

clinical supervision of counseling residents

I am a board certified supervisor and also approved by the Virginia Board of Counseling to supervise residents working toward licensure. I am passionate about mentoring and supervision and offer both individual and group supervision.

Certifications

Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS)

I am an Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) through the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC); this credential identifies mental health professionals dedicated to providing supervision of the highest quality and who have met rigorous national professional supervision standards.

Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor (CCMHC)

I hold a national certification as a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor. This credential distinguishes counselors dedicated to the highest standards of practice in clinical mental health counseling, meeting stringent education, examination, supervision, experience, and ethical requirements.

National Certified Counselor (NCC)

I am a national certified counselor, reflecting my dedication and interests in promoting national standards of counseling and an ongoing professional commitment to the field.

Board Certified Telehealth Professional - Level 3 (BCTP-III)

This extensive board certification reflects the highest level of commitment to best practices in providing safe, effective telehealth services to clients.

EMDR Trained Clinician 

I am currently advancing toward certification to become an EMDR certified clinician. My training in EMDR thus far has grounded me with the ability to work with patients with trauma, depression, and anxiety who are interested in incorporating this transformative, evidence based approach into their treatment. Certification in EMDR is a professional credential demonstrating a higher level of experience supported by an additional 20 hours of consultation and 12 more CEUs, which I am currently working towards.

Professional Associations

  • American Counseling Association [ACA]

  • Association for Counselor Education & Supervision [ACES]

  • Virginia Counseling Association [VCA]

  • Eye-Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing International Association [EMDRIA]

Clinical Supervision

supervision philosophy

In addition to working with clients, I am passionate about supporting supervisees on their quest as counseling residents working toward licensure in VA and NY. To meet supervisees where they’re at, I supervise through a person-centered lens, using unconditional positive regard, authenticity, empathy, and acceptance — perfect ingredients for collaboration and building a strong rapport. The process, content, and delivery are guided by Bernard’s (1979) Discrimination Model, which speaks to immediacy and intentionality by alternating between relevant roles (teacher, consultant, and counselor) and modalities (intervention, conceptualization, and personalization).

Supervision lens

The ways people learn are important to understanding the totality of therapy and supervision. I am a visual learner and use a lot of infographics and visual aids; however, I also tap into the learning style of the supervisee to communicate in a way that speaks on a personal level.

I am almost fully trained and am working toward EMDR certification through EMDRIA. I am starting to use this lens more and more in my clinical work; however, I continue to learn and grow by seeing each person on an individual level through a Positive Psychotherapy and Strengths-Based orientation.

I look forward to working with you on personalizing the process, helping you become more self-aware in and out of session, and refining your counseling style, philosophical perception, and theoretical orientation.

Supervision Interests

  • Child and Adolescent

  • Early Adulthood

  • Life Transitions

  • Anxiety, Depression, and Mood-Related Disorders

  • ADHD and Related Disorders

  • Opposition and Defiance

  • Self-Harming / Suicidal Ideation / Trauma-Related Diagnoses

  • Career Counseling 

Additional Areas of Expertise

Academic Stress and Pressure
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Adjusting to Life Transitions
Adolescence
Anger
Anxiety
Attention Problems
Autism (High-Functioning)
Bipolar Disorder
Child Anxiety
Child Depression
Defiance
Depression
Discovering Your Identity
Eating Disorders
Emotional Dysregulation
Finding Meaning and Purpose
Finding Passion and Creativity
Generalized Anxiety
Grief and Loss
Impulsivity
Identity
LGBTQ+
Life Stress
Life Transitions
Low Self Esteem
Mood disorders
Perfectionism
Persistent Depressive Disorder
Personal Growth
Pre-teens
Relationship and Communication Difficulties
Self-Care
Seasonal Affective Disorders
Self-Criticism
Self-Esteem
Social Anxiety
Stress Management
Struggling to Launch
Substance Use
Trauma
Young Adults

more ABOUT ME

I am inspired when…

clients become their own therapists. Whether they call themselves out on behaviors they didn't notice before, use counseling terminology, or make a connection for that ah-ha moment - these are all proof of a new path forward.

I believe…

that therapy can be hard, but it's so much more than that. I believe in a therapy that is fun, enlightening, forgiving, encouraging, compassionate, validating, resonating, and empowering. I believe it's about connecting on a level that evokes something in you that you never knew you had.

favorite QUOTES

“A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.
”
— Wade Boggs
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
— Ghandi
These negative thinking patterns can influence our mood and exacerbate feelings of anxiety, depression, or other feelings of insecurity and self doubt. This can then contribute to a pattern of unhealthy behaviors–which in turn starts the cycle
CBT is an approach that focuses on how our thinking patterns influence our behavioral patterns. The main idea behind CBT is that thoughts influence how we feel and act. Basically: how we act can in turn also affect how we think and feel in a given si
If you’re thinking of starting therapy, you’ve likely run into the term modality before. A modality is the approach a therapist takes when providing care for their patients. One of the modalities we utilize here is called Cognitive Behavi
EMDR was initially developed to help process trauma, and lessen the effects of PTSD, and it is an incredibly powerful way to treat trauma, including trauma from childhood or abuse. However, research has shown that EMDR can be helpful with a number of
Some of the phases go faster than others, and once you are ready to begin reprocessing, most of your EMDR sessions will be some combination of phases 3-8. #emdr #emdrTherapy #nervoussystemdysregulation #nervoussystem #complexptsd #psychoeducation #
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s a kind of psychotherapy that was developed in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro. Dr. Shapiro was walking outdoors in 1987 when she noticed that the distress she was feeling, relate
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s a kind of psychotherapy that was developed in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro. Dr. Shapiro was walking outdoors in 1987 when she noticed that the distress she was feeling, relate
To start, you pick which of the five emotions feels closest to what you’re feeling. As the rings move outward, the terms get more and more specific. So for example, maybe you can only identify that you feel sad. If you start at sad, and go one
Developing a greater awareness of your emotions can help you find ways to cope with difficult emotions that arise, make values-aligned decisions, enhance relationships with others, and develop a greater sense of self esteem. Identifying emotions and
Emotions can seem scary because we just aren’t taught a lot about them. When we shy away from understanding them, they become these all powerful entities that can control our lives. But the truth is, emotions (and the experience of having any e