Meet Ethany Michaud, LCSW
(she/her)
Somatic Trauma Therapist · Certified Brainspotting Practitioner · Founder, Circle City Alliance Therapy & Consulting · Indianapolis, Indiana
Why I Became a Therapist - The Honest Version.
In elementary school, I told my mom I thought I might want to grow up to be a counselor because all of my friends came to me when something was wrong. I didn't have a word for it then, but I already understood something: That people need a safe place to put their pain. And I wanted to be that place.
A few years later, a career quiz in middle school confirmed what I already suspected. And then life confirmed it in a way I didn't expect.
As a teenager growing up in Pendleton, Indiana in the early 2000s, I struggled with anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. Mental health wasn't viewed the way it is today…especially not in a small town. The resources just weren't there. I was often dismissed and invalidated, cycled back to my primary care doctor, who would adjust my medications and send me home. Nothing helped. Nothing even came close to touching what was actually happening.
Looking back now, I know exactly what I needed. I needed to feel safe. I needed to feel heard. I needed someone to sit with me in it, not to fix it or medicate it, and not send me home with a pamphlet or told to “just exercise more and track my diet” (that’s a real thing that was said to me at 17), but to actually be present with me and help me feel less alone in what I was carrying.
I didn't get what I needed until adulthood. And that experience in my teens…the loneliness of it, the helplessness of reaching out and not being met is the reason I do this work.
I became a therapist because I know what it feels like to need a safe space and not have one. And I built CCA Therapy so that nobody who walks through my door has to feel that way.
What It's Actually Like to Be in a Session With Me
My ultimate goal is that each client feels safe and genuinely seen within the first few sessions. That matters more to me than almost any clinical outcome I could name, because I know that safety isn't just a nice feeling but the biological prerequisite for any real healing to happen.
My office is designed to feel like the opposite of a clinical setting. No fluorescent lights, no sterile furniture, no clipboard held between us like a barrier. Comfortable chairs, warm lighting, plants, a coffee and tea bar just for you. A space that says: you can exhale here.
My approach is person-centered and relationship-centered first and always. Before any modality, before any treatment plan, before Brainspotting or somatic work or anything else, the foundation has to be there: a space where you feel safe enough to say what's actually true, feel what you actually feel, and trust that none of it will be too much for me.
Because it won't be. I've sat with some of the heaviest things a person can carry. I don't flinch. I don't redirect you toward the comfortable version of your story. I stay present with the real one.
Once that foundation is in place, I bring over a decade of specialized clinical training to the work including Brainspotting, which I use in my own therapy and believe in at a level that goes well beyond my credentials. I also draw from somatic therapy, Polyvagal Theory, DBT, Motivational Interviewing, CBT, and parts work to build a treatment approach that's as specific to you as the pain you're carrying.
There is no script here or predetermined finish line. Just two people working together toward whatever you actually need.
Who I Work With
I specialize in working with adults navigating trauma, PTSD, and complex trauma (C-PTSD), anxiety and panic, depression, grief and loss, and addiction and substance use. Much of my work centers on the places where these overlap, because for most people they do not show up in neat, separate categories.
The people I work with often include:
🔹 Veterans and first responders carrying experiences they have never had space to fully process
🔹 Survivors of domestic violence, sexual trauma, and childhood trauma who have been told, in one way or another, that their reality was not real
🔹 People in recovery navigating not just the substance but the grief, shame, and identity shifts that come with it
🔹 High-achievers and people-pleasers who look completely fine on the outside while their nervous system has been running on empty for years
🔹 People who have tried therapy before and hit a wall, who understand their patterns intellectually but still feel stuck in them
🔹 Anyone who has been carrying something wordless in their body for a long time and is ready to finally set it down
If you recognized yourself anywhere in that list, you are in the right place. And if you are not sure whether what you are carrying "counts," it does. You do not have to be in crisis to deserve support.
A Little More About Me
I grew up in Pendleton, Indiana and now live in Indianapolis with my husband and our four beloved animals. They’re all named after Star Wars characters: Kix (our therapy dog Goldendoodle), Revan, Ezra, and Binks. And in a wonderful full-circle moment, a client of mine suggested the name Kix for our therapy dog, as it also hails from the Star Wars universe (even if it IS a deep cut!). It seems fitting that Kix was named by the very clients I have him sit with.
When I'm not in session, you'll find me:
🎭 On the board for Theatre Unchained — an Indianapolis theatre company I'm passionate about supporting, especially as they are champions for creating safe spaces on stage and exploring mental health themes.
🥾 Hiking Indiana's state parks — there's something about being in nature that resets everything
✈️ Traveling with my husband and our close friends whenever we can
📚 Reading — always in the middle of something
🐾 Being completely devoted to four animals who have collectively decided they run this household
I also believe strongly in practicing what I preach. I do my own therapy. I do my own Brainspotting work. I do Myofascial Release Massage once a month, at least. I take care of my nervous system because I know what happens when I don't and because I think therapists who do their own work are simply better at it.
Why I believe in Brainspotting
Brainspotting is not just a technique I was trained in. It is the modality I use in my own healing.
For years I struggled with things that talk therapy alone could not seem to shift. I saw doctors. I tried medications. I did the work. And it was not until I sat in a Brainspotting session myself, and felt something release that I did not even know I was holding, that I understood what this work could actually do.
I have sat in that chair. I know what it feels like when a wave moves through you and something you have been carrying for years quietly lets go. I know what it is like to finally have language for something that lived wordlessly in the body for a long time.
That is why I am a Certified Brainspotting practitioner. That is why I keep my own Brainspotting work going in my own individual therapy. And that is why, when I sit across from a client who has done everything right and still feels stuck, Brainspotting is where I turn.
I chose to bring this work to Indianapolis because I have experienced firsthand what it can do, and because I have now watched it work for clients across more than a decade of practice. It is the thing I believe in most deeply, and I think that belief shows in the work.
If this resonates, you’re in the right place.
Meet Kix: Certified Therapy Dog & Chief Cuddle Officer
Hi, I'm Kix! I'm a Goldendoodle, professional snuggler, and the official therapy dog here at CCA Therapy. My job is to help you feel safe, seen, and supported, one paw at a time.
I'm available for sessions with Ethany if you'd like some extra warmth! And if you'd rather I take a nap in the other room, I'm genuinely great at that too. No pressure either way.
You'll usually find me curled up next to someone on the couch, offering quiet comfort (or a full lap nap, if that's more your style). I specialize in something humans call deep pressure therapy, but really it just means I become your personal fuzzy weighted blanket when things feel heavy. Panic and anxiety have a hard time sticking around when I'm on duty.
I also love going on "toy parade" which is my very important ritual of showing off the coolest things in my collection. It's my way of breaking the ice and reminding everyone that healing doesn't always have to be serious. Sometimes it involves squeaky toys.
Fun fact: my name was suggested by one of Ethany's former clients who was a Star Wars fan and picked it from the Star Wars universe to match the rest of the family. Kix was a clone trooper medic and I think it suits me perfectly.
Whether you're here to talk, breathe, cry, laugh, or just need a little extra warmth, I'll be right here if you want me. Four paws, open heart, zero judgment.
Paws-itively yours,
Kix 🐾
Credentials & Licensure
Ethany Michaud, LCSW Licensed Clinical Social Worker Licensed in Indiana, Ohio & Florida
Education: Master of Social Work — Indiana University
Certifications & Training:
Certified Brainspotting Practitioner
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
Motivational Interviewing
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Trauma-Focused CBT
Clinical Experience:
Community mental health
Substance use and dual diagnosis treatment
Therapeutic foster care (CHINS court advocacy)
Private Practice Management and Ownership
Let’s talk and see if therapy with me might be a good next step.
If anything you've read here resonates, if you recognized yourself in something, or simply felt a little less alone, I'd love to talk.
The free 15-minute consultation is just a conversation. No paperwork, no pressure, no commitment. We'll see if it feels like a fit.
In-person at our office in Northwest Indianapolis near Carmel and Zionsville. Telehealth throughout Indiana, Ohio, and Florida.
What We Can Help You With
Click any service to learn more about our approach.
Trauma & PTSD
For adults still carrying past experiences in their body, relationships, and nervous system.
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Brainspotting
A neurobiological approach that reaches where trauma is stored in the brain and body.
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Anxiety
For high-achievers who look fine on the outside and cannot slow down on the inside.
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Depression
Including treatment-resistant depression, postpartum depression, and depression rooted in trauma or grief.
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Grief & Loss
For every kind of loss, including grief in recovery, identity grief, and losses that go unrecognized.
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Addiction & Substance Use
Harm reduction-based, judgment-free support for the full spectrum of addictive patterns.
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Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy
For clients who have tried everything and are ready for a different kind of door to open.
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Myofascial Release & Somatic Bodywork
Hands-on nervous system support through Barnes MFR and somatic bodywork. Offered by Chelsey Gilbert, LMT.
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