About Mike
Mike Petagna is a licensed professional counselor in Arizona who helps people facing stress, anxiety, and life changes. He works with clients on addictions, parenting concerns, self-esteem, and everyday coping skills. He uses straightforward language and a calm approach to make starting therapy easier for worried people.
He draws on eight years of clinical experience to shape conversations and treatment plans. Sessions focus on practical steps you can try between meetings.
Background and approach
Mike adapts the pace and tools to each person’s needs rather than using a one-size-fits-all plan. In sessions he emphasizes respect, sensitivity, and compassion. He listens for how symptoms appear in daily life and then helps identify small, workable changes.
That might mean practicing new coping skills, changing unhelpful thoughts, or setting clear goals for family and parenting roles. Mike uses techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and solution-focused methods. These approaches are used to address anxiety, addictive behaviors, and problems with communication or control.
He aims to keep work concrete and goal-oriented so progress can be tracked. People who choose him often want a practical path forward with steady support. He encourages clients to be active participants in their care and helps them build strategies that fit their schedules and responsibilities.
How Mike’s approaches work online
Mike uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors; this is useful for anxiety, stress, and habits tied to addiction. Dialectical Behavior Therapy adds skills for emotion regulation and managing intense feelings, which can help with impulsive behavior and relationship stress. Solution-Focused Therapy centers on small, practical changes and clear goals to build momentum and track progress.Choosing the right approach is a team effort. Mike talks with each person about their goals, challenges, and preferences, then suggests an approach or blend of methods. The plan can be adjusted over time based on what is working and what isn’t, so clients stay involved in decisions about their care.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to make therapy flexible. Video works well for deeper conversations and exercises that use visual cues. Phone calls are an option when bandwidth is limited or a quieter check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging suit brief updates, coping reminders, or quick skill practice between sessions.
Questions people ask
What kinds of concerns does he address?
What is his therapeutic style?
How long has he been practicing?
What credential does he hold and where is he based?
Are sessions offered in other languages?
Which session formats are available?
How are costs handled?
What are the steps to get started?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Parenting issues
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Phobias
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 8 years
- Licensed
- Arizona
- Languages
- English
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