About Michael
Michael Spackman offers calm, straightforward support for people dealing with stress, anxiety and life changes. He helps clients talk through difficult feelings and find practical steps forward. He creates a non-judgemental space so people can be honest about what they are feeling and what they want to change.
Michael uses simple, clear methods rather than jargon. He draws on acceptance and commitment ideas to help people notice difficult thoughts without being led by them.
Background and approach
He also uses cognitive behavioural techniques to spot unhelpful patterns and try new actions that make life more manageable. Attachment-based thinking informs his work with relationship and abandonment issues. That approach helps people understand how early patterns affect current relationships and reactions.
He also brings client-centred listening into sessions so people set the pace and priorities. His background includes eight years of professional experience in Australia and a PACFA credential. He has supported people facing trauma, grief, anger, depression and challenges linked to ADHD and autism.
He also works with concerns around kink and alternative sexual culture in a respectful way. Sessions focus on clear goals and small steps that fit everyday life. Michael encourages practical exercises between sessions and checks in on what works and what needs changing.
He aims to help clients build skills they can use outside the room.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings and still move toward what matters. It is useful for anxiety, stress and situations where worry keeps people stuck. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, focuses on the link between thoughts, feelings and actions and offers concrete exercises to change unhelpful patterns. It is often used for anxiety, depression and low mood. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how earlier relationship patterns affect current connections and reactions; it can help with abandonment concerns, communication problems and relationship stress.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about goals and preferences and then suggest methods to try. That choice is collaborative and can be adjusted as therapy progresses to better fit what helps most.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat or text messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video is suited to longer sessions where non-verbal cues matter, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat supports shorter check-ins and text messaging allows ongoing, brief contact between meetings. These options help people fit therapy into busy lives and keep momentum between sessions.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Family conflicts
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hearing impaired
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 8 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English
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