Michelle Haptonstall

Michelle Haptonstall, LPC, focuses on helping people who are facing big life changes and painful emotions. She works with individuals dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship strain, and self-esteem struggles. Michelle aims to provide a calm, accepting place to talk things through and find practical steps forward.

She has 15 years of experience working in school and community settings across Colorado. That background informs a straightforward style that balances emotional support with real-world strategies. Sessions often cover communication skills, ways to reduce shame and guilt, and how to rebuild after separation or loss.

Michelle pays close attention to each person’s identity and experience. She intentionally creates an affirming environment for LGBTQ+ clients and for people who prefer a non-religious approach. The work is collaborative - she listens first, then helps set clear goals together.

Common themes in her practice include attachment and abandonment concerns, isolation and loneliness, and young adult issues. She also helps people who struggle with self-harm urges to find safer coping choices and stronger supports. Michelle focuses on building emotional resilience and clearer interpersonal boundaries.

Her aim is steady progress rather than quick fixes. Conversations move at a pace that fits the client. Practical tools, clearer communication, and greater self-compassion are typical outcomes people work toward.

Approaches that guide online work

Michelle uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on practical change and emotional understanding. One common approach she uses helps people notice and change unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviors, which can reduce anxiety and depression symptoms and improve daily functioning. Another approach centers on attachment and relational patterns, helping people recognize how past bonds shape current reactions and teaching new ways to connect and communicate.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist collaborates with each person to decide which strategies fit their needs, goals, and preferences. Sessions begin with listening and goal-setting, then try approaches that match those goals while adjusting as progress is observed.

If you are considering online therapy, confirm the available session formats before booking since the biography did not specify them. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule, allow shorter check-ins when time is limited, and reduce the need to travel. Licensed professionals can adapt exercises, communication skills practice, and emotion-regulation tools to remote sessions, helping clients make steady progress without rearranging their entire day.