Michael Eblin

I received my Master of Social Work (MSW) from The Ohio State University. I have been working in mental health for 12 years and been a therapist for 9 years. I have worked mostly in the LGBTQIA+ community during that time, but have also often worked with all kinds of folks in some capacity. I have worked in community mental health, youth development and prevention, college counseling, and most recently in an intensive outpatient program.

I am a nonbinary (though male presenting), queer, neurodivergent white person in a fat, tall body from Appalachian hill people with generational poverty. I’m a first-generation undergraduate and master’s graduate, but also recognize that moving through those institutions afforded me quite a lot of privilege which I take seriously.

If you are looking for tough love, or someone to analyze you and tell you what is wrong with you, I’m not able to provide that, but I do believe in directness as well as honest, intentional, mutual feedback that benefits clients and the therapeutic relationship. I can offer deep compassion, humor, genuine curiosity, authenticity, and nerdiness. I think clients deserve to know their therapists, too, and appreciate curiosity and desire to connect through it. Clients are making the choice to be brave and share their vulnerability, and I think that should be reciprocated when appropriate. I am less likely to be a blank slate, hyper-clinical, or removed as a therapist, rather erring on the side of being human, warm, real, and open. I encourage you to bring as much of yourself to session as you feel safe to, and I understand that often takes time.

I specialize in working with LGBTQIA+ folks, especially transgender and gender expansive clients. I have WPATH training, and extensive experience helping clients through the support letter writing process and ongoing support throughout all phases of transition/life. I also have done quite a lot of work (though surely incomplete) around how whiteness shows up in therapeutic alliances and believe in practicing cultural humility and responsiveness. Though not an expert, I did collaborate with others in many past roles on how to be and train others to be anti-racist and am comfortable working with race and cross-cultural dialogue if clients are open to that kind of matching.

My clinical practice is informed by dialectal behavioral therapy (DBT), schema therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), mindfulness, attachment theory, self-compassion, feminist frameworks, and queer theory, and I have EMDR training.

First sessions with a new therapist are tough because there is so much we want to get done. Clients often struggle to know how much to share and where to start. We will cover the things most important to you and why you are seeking care, as well as other information that helps me get to know you, but I want you to also ask questions that help you know if we are a good fit. Our meeting is likely to feel more and more conversational and way less clinical. We can pace this process based on your comfort, your sense of urgency to start treatment, and the flow of how we begin in this relationship together.