Michelle Dubil

If you're here, something in your life feels overwhelming right now — and that took courage to look for support. I'm Michelle Dubil, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 15 years of experience helping people navigate crisis, trauma, and instability.

I currently work as a Suicide Prevention Coordinator, where I conduct risk assessments, build individualized safety plans, and coordinate care for people in acute distress. Before that, I spent nearly a decade in case management, helping Veterans and individuals experiencing homelessness find housing stability and connect with the resources they needed. That work taught me that crisis doesn't happen in a vacuum — it's shaped by history, environment, and circumstance. Effective support has to account for the whole picture, not just the symptom in front of us.

I have particular experience working with:

• Suicidal ideation and safety planning
• Crisis intervention
• Veterans and military-connected individuals
• Homelessness and housing instability
• Complex, high-risk situations requiring coordinated care

I hold a Master of Arts in Social Work from Dominican University and am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). I also provide clinical supervision to LCSW candidates and MSW interns, so mentorship and workforce development are part of how I stay connected to the field.

If you're looking for a therapist who won't ask you to have it all figured out, who understands that safety plans need to be realistic rather than perfect, and who brings both clinical expertise and lived professional experience with crisis systems — I'd be glad to talk.

You don't have to have the right words or a clear plan to reach out — you just have to be willing to start. In our work together, I won't ask you to perform progress or pretend things are fine when they're not. I move at your pace, and I believe you're the expert on your own life, even when things feel out of control.

My approach is trauma-informed, which means I pay attention to how past experiences shape what feels safe in the present — and I won't push you somewhere you're not ready to go. I also work from a harm-reduction lens: instead of all-or-nothing expectations, we'll figure out what realistic, sustainable safety and stability look like for you, specifically. Small, honest steps count.

Because of my background in crisis work, I'm comfortable sitting with hard things — suicidal thoughts, instability, trauma — without flinching or rushing to fix. You can bring the parts of your story that feel too heavy for other rooms. My goal isn't to hand you a generic plan; it's to build one with you that actually fits your life.

Your first session with me is about building a foundation, not diving into everything at once. I'll ask about what's brought you in, what's felt hard lately, and what support has or hasn't worked for you in the past — but you set the pace, and you never have to share more than feels right on day one.

I create a space that's calm, direct, and judgment-free. You won't get clinical jargon or a cookie-cutter intake script; you'll get someone who listens closely and asks thoughtful follow-up questions, because I want to understand your actual situation, not just check boxes. If safety is a concern, we'll talk about that honestly and collaboratively — safety planning is never something I do "to" a client, it's something we build together based on what's realistic for your life.

By the end of the first session, my goal is for you to leave with a few things: a sense that you were genuinely heard, some clarity on what we'll focus on together, and a loose idea of what the next few sessions might look like. I'm not aiming for a breakthrough in session one — I'm aiming for trust. Everything else builds from there.