Michelle Goldsmith, MS
About the Therapist
I help my clients find steadiness, self-trust, and real self-acceptance by equipping them with tools to take healthy risks and build more fulfilling relationships.
Too often, trauma work is offered as a quick symptom fix, despite everything we know about how trauma actually heals. Real change happens slowly, at the pace your body and mind can safely integrate new experiences. Clients can sometimes feel stuck when a single approach doesn’t work in a new situation.
I work beyond symptom management, getting to the root causes of your distress.
Your life is unique, and I meet you right where you are, gently, consistently, and honestly. I tune into your needs as they evolve and make space for open reflection on whether meaningful change is happening for you. I also offer a level of transparency about therapy that many of my clients appreciate (some say it’s the New Yorker in me!).
We start by noticing what is working in your life. (Yes, I do things a little differently.) Not to downplay the hard stuff—but to uncover the existing resources of strength, stability, and comfort that you already have. We make sure you’ve got enough steadiness in your life before diving into deeper trauma work.
Then, we look at what’s most painful—whether it’s something from the past or something happening now. Together, we explore whether you’re ready to work on it directly, or if it makes more sense to begin with the peripheral challenges in your life—those daily struggles or patterns that are holding you back.
Starting with the edges often gives you the anchor you need to face the centre. You’ll have time to build trust with me, especially if you’ve experienced relational harm. It’s easier to go into the deep end when you know you can come up for air and still feel safe.
- Lesbian
- Queer
I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychotherapy and Counselling from the University of Leeds and a Master of Science with Distinction in Dance and Movement in Creative Arts Therapies from Pratt Institute in New York City (2010).
Professional Accreditation
British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy BACP 413818
National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society - NCPS1420
Upcoming Presentations
Radical Resonance: Queer Embodiment, Co-regulation and Femifesto Writing at Lesbian Lives Conference 2025, NYC
Listening with Pride: Affirmative Perinatal Counselling for LGBTQIA+ Clients for Talkthru, Huddersfield
| Award | Awarding body | Year of award | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
PESI | 2025 | |||
| Diploma CPD in Diversity, Cultural Competence, Race, and Anti-Discrimination Embedded into Therapeutic Practice, | The Anti-Discrimination Focus #TADF | 2025 | |||
| Janina Fisher's Trauma Treatment Certification Training CCTP-I | PESI | 2024 | |||
Through our work together, you’ll build the skills and confidence you need to thrive in your goals and relationships, while strengthening your sense of self.
We do this in three main ways.
Relational Work
By having a new kind of experience within our therapeutic relationship, you begin to form a new internal blueprint—one rooted in safety, trust, and authenticity. Your brain (and body!) start to rewire old patterns, allowing you to relate to others and yourself with greater compassion, clarity, and resilience. This relational healing becomes a foundation for lasting change.
Somatic Work
You’ll learn tools that support self-awareness, self-trust, and self-regulation by tuning into your body’s signals. This helps deepen your ability to feel grounded and safe in your own experience. You’ll gradually build the capacity to calm yourself more quickly, energise yourself when needed, and rest when your body needs it. You’ll figure out how your body best moves between these states.
Integration
You’ll have a safe, steady place to return to— after being out in the wild, trying out new ways of being with yourself and others. Within the warmth of a trusting relationship, we’ll make space to explore what these new experiences are bringing up for you.
You’ll have room to make a mess, to try again, and to build your self-compassion along the way. Because real trauma work isn’t about getting it perfect—it’s about gentle repetition, with support, until change begins to settle in.
Accessibility
I consider all accessibility needs with sensitivity, working from the social model of disability framework. For outdoor work, we will use locations that are wheelchair accessible while maintaining appropriate privacy. Contact me to discuss your requirements for online or in-person work: michellegoldsmith@protonmail.com
My practice is LGBTQIA+, GSRD & neurodiversity affirmative, sex-positive, and fat-positive.
Approaches
Relational • Somatic • Trauma-Informed • Person-Centered • Intersectional Feminism • Anti-Oppressive
- Attachment theory (Psychodynamic)
- Body psychotherapy
- Dance movement psychotherapy
- Existential
- Feminist therapy
- Group therapy
- Humanistic
- Person-Centred
- Psychodynamic
- Relational
- Walk and talk therapy
- Bi- | Pansexual
- Lesbian
- Non-binary | Genderqueer
- Queer
- Questioning
- One to one
- Two people
- Three or more people
- Fully wheelchair-adapted
- Adults
- Seniors (60+)
- Online
- In Person
Fees are offered on a sliding scale to accommodate different financial situations. You determine which bracket you are in.
Low Income £64• Middle Income £84 • High Income £119
Thirty-Minute Initial Consultation (free of charge)
This will be an online meeting to explore how it might feel for us to work together. You’re welcome to share what you’re looking for and ask any questions you may have.
Sorry, no records were found. Please adjust your search criteria and try again.
Sorry, unable to load the Maps API.
