TELEHEALTH STATEWIDE · SOUTH HILLS, PA

Michael Breitenbach, MS, LPC

  • Licensed Professional Counselor
  • MS · Chatham University
  • Counseling Since 2004
  • Telehealth Statewide
  • Accepting New Clients

“Talent means nothing, while experience, acquired in humility and with hard work, means everything.”

Michael Breitenbach is a Licensed Professional Counselor at CPA Counseling, working primarily by secure telehealth across Pennsylvania, with in-person appointments available at the South Hills office. In counseling since 2004 and licensed since 2008, he works with adults, couples, teens, and families on anxiety, depression, addiction, relationships, and life transitions — with a particular focus on young adults, technology addiction, and men seeking therapy.

Michael Breitenbach
No program commitments
UPMC · Highmark · United · Aetna · Cigna · and others
Teens, adults, couples & veterans
Telehealth available statewide
Counseling since 2004 · licensed 2008

WHO MICHAEL WORKS WITH

Who he’s for

Michael works with adults, teens, young adults, couples, families, seniors, and veterans. Women, men, LGBTQ+ clients, college students. Primarily by telehealth across Pennsylvania, with in-person appointments available at the South Hills office.

1

Young adults navigating peer pressure and screens.

A stated passion, and he has the vantage point for it — a father of four from toddler to young adulthood. Technology addiction is on his list as a clinical problem, not a lifestyle complaint, and few clinicians in the region treat it that way.

2

Men who have not done this before.

His own observation: telehealth has empowered men to seek therapy at a higher rate, reducing the stigma. He treats that as a finding worth building around rather than a nice side effect — and men’s mental health is a named specialty.

3

People asking what it has all been for.

Michael works from Erik Erikson’s stage of generativity versus stagnation — the midlife question of whether what you are doing is contributing to something beyond yourself. It is an unusual frame in outpatient practice and it fits a specific kind of stuck.

why work with Michael

Generativity, not stagnation

His guiding frame, from Erikson: generativity is about giving back — raising children, being productive at work, taking part in something larger. People who have lost that thread often arrive describing it as something else entirely.

What brings people in

Anxiety that has taken over the planning. Depression that has outlasted its reason. Drinking or using that started as the fix. Hours lost to a screen. A marriage running the same argument. Or the particular flatness of doing everything right and feeling nothing much.

How he actually works

Highly experienced in CBT, psychodynamic therapy, and the Gottman approach for couples. He is explicit that therapy should be tailored to the individual, and he works across fourteen approaches rather than defaulting to one.

What gets different

Purpose and fulfillment — his own two words, and a bigger target than symptom relief. Alongside that he provides resources and helps clients build an actual plan for a healthier life, rather than leaving the work entirely inside the session hour.

HOW MICHAEL WORKS

Fourteen approaches, tailored each time

The widest toolkit in the practice, and twenty-two years of judgment about which part to use. His stated belief is that therapy should be tailored to the individual rather than run as a protocol.

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • Family Systems
  • Solution-Focused Therapy
  • Person-Centered Therapy
  • Psychodynamic
  • Motivational Interviewing
  • Strengths-based therapy

1

When it is between two people

The Gottman Method for couples’ communication, where he describes himself as highly experienced. Research-backed structure for conflict and repair rather than another round of the same conversation.

2

When the pattern is older than the problem

Psychodynamic work on where the pattern actually started, paired with CBT on how it runs now. Holding both is less common than it sounds — most clinicians lean to one.

3

When the screen has taken over

Technology addiction treated clinically, with CBT and motivational interviewing. The compulsive loop responds to the same work as other compulsions, and the overlap with anxiety and self-esteem is usually where the real work sits.

CONDITIONS TREATED

What Michael treats – who Michael sees

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Trauma
  • ADHD
  • Addiction
  • Technology Addiction
  • Marriage & Couples
  • Family Issues
  • Emotional Abuse
  • Codependency
  • Life Transitions
  • Grief & Loss
  • Men
  • Workplace Stress
  • Self-Esteem
  • Adults
  • Teens & Adolescents
  • Young Adults
  • Families
  • Individuals
  • Women
  • Men
  • Seniors
  • College Students

For addiction

Federally registered in addiction — the only one here

Michael’s federal provider registration is in addiction counseling specifically, which no one else in the practice holds. Paired with his focus on young adults and technology addiction, it covers both the substance and the compulsion.

“Everyone has the potential to reach their full potential, and I am committed to helping my clients get there.”

CARE PHILOSOPHY

Tailored. And it asks for your effort.

Tailored to the individual, in Michael’s words, which is why the toolkit is as wide as it is. He is highly experienced in CBT, psychodynamic therapy, and the Gottman approach, and he is explicit that his ideal client is internally motivated and willing to put in the work — this is collaborative, not delivered.

ABOUT MICHAEL

Purpose, and fulfillment

Michael Breitenbach is a highly experienced clinician influenced by Erik Erikson’s social development theory, focused on the seventh stage: generativity versus stagnation.

He believes generativity is about giving back to society — raising children, being productive at work, and taking part in community — and works with clients toward purpose and fulfillment. People who have lost that thread often arrive describing it as something else entirely.

Michael is highly experienced in cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and the Gottman approach for couples’ communication, and believes an approach to therapy must be tailored to the individual rather than run as a protocol. Alongside sessions he provides resources and helps clients build an actual plan for a healthier life.

As a telehealth therapist he has found that many people value the freedom it offers, and that it has empowered men to seek therapy at a higher rate, reducing the stigma that has kept many of them away. He has a particular passion for working with young adults navigating peer pressure and social media — as a father of four children ranging from toddler to young adulthood, he understands those pressures directly.

He holds a Master of Science in Counseling from Chatham University, is federally registered in addiction counseling, and sees clients by telehealth across Pennsylvania and in person at the South Hills office.

CREDENTIALS & TRAINING

DEGREE

MS · Counseling

Chatham University

CERTIFICATIONS

LPC · Licensed Professional Counselor

ALSO TRAINED

Erikson’s Generativity Framework · Gottman · Psychodynamic · CBT

FOCUS

Young Adults & Technology · Men’s Mental Health · Couples

IN PRACTICE

Since 2004 · licensed 2008

Telehealth statewide · South Hills in person

IN NETWORK

UPMC · Highmark · United · Aetna · Cigna · and others

Since 2004 · licensed 2008

14

Approaches Used

The widest toolkit here

✦

Addiction & Technology

Federally registered in addiction

∞

Personalized Care Plans

No program commitments required

CONDITION GUIDE

Therapy guides from Michael Breitenbach

  • Patient Zero

    Mental Health

    What Taylor Swift Teaches Us About Parasocial Connection

    Why millions feel they truly know someone they’ve never met — the psychology of parasocial connection, when it’s comforting, and when it’s telling you something.

  • woman lost in thinking about to do items shown on the image

    Anxiety

    When Anxiety Starts Making the Rules

    Anxiety rarely announces itself as anxiety — it arrives as good judgment, feeling like being careful, responsible, or thinking ahead, and by the time you notice, it may have been making your decisions for years. OCD is mostly internal: intrusive thoughts, mental checking, rumination, reassurance-seeking. Both respond well to treatment.

  • Accessibility

    Information

    CPA Counseling Accessibility Statement

    Our commitment to an accessible website — WCAG 2.1 AA, keyboard operability, high contrast — and a direct contact if you encounter any barrier.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Questions about working with Michael Breitenbach

What new clients ask most often before their first session.

Michael is a Licensed Professional Counselor who has been counseling since 2004 and licensed since 2008. He works with adults, teens, couples, families, and veterans on anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD, addiction, technology addiction, marriage and couples concerns, emotional abuse, codependency, life transitions, grief and loss, and men’s mental health, drawing on CBT, DBT, TF-CBT, Gottman Method, IFS, family systems, psychodynamic, somatic, existential, and other approaches.

Erikson’s seventh stage of social development: generativity versus stagnation. Generativity means contributing to something beyond yourself — raising children, productive work, community. People who have lost that thread often arrive describing it as something else, and naming it tends to change the conversation.

Yes — it is how he primarily practices, across Pennsylvania. He also sees clients in person at the South Hills office. His own observation is that telehealth has lowered the barrier for men seeking therapy, which is part of why he builds around it.

Yes. Michael is accepting new clients by telehealth across Pennsylvania, and in person at the South Hills office. He is in network with UPMC, Highmark, United, Aetna, Cigna and others. Request an appointment online or call 412-439-1416.