About Michelle Cilia

Connecting deeply with people is what motivates and inspires me most. Our relationships and connectedness to one another are what give our lives meaning. People close to me describe me as warm, open-hearted and easy to talk to.

Style-When I was still in training, one of my supervisors said, “You have a way of taking people in quickly and truly understanding them”. I believe that this is my gift and I’m so excited to share it. I work psychodynamically which means that the way we interact during sessions is similar to the way you interact out in the world. It is my hope that when you work with me you will feel held and deeply understood. During sessions, you can expect me to be interactive, collaborative and employ humor when necessary.

My path to becoming a psychotherapist evolved over time. I earned my undergraduate in Labor History and photography. At one point, I worked on the Maine state archive. One of my first projects was simple, but challenging. Go out into the streets with your camera and talk to people. Interview them, learn about their lives, capture their story.

After getting over the initial discomfort, I began to love it! It opened up a whole world to me. After always wondering about the lives of people I passed in the street, now was my chance to know.

I learned and connected with so many different people during this time. I went on to earn my Master’s in Counseling Psychology. When I began my clinical training, I did so at a psychoanalytically based training program.