Psychology-based Executive Coaching

Change the behaviors. Change your business.

As a clinical psychologist and executive coach, I reveal the behaviors behind communication, buy-in, and retention issues, and what hinders growth. Then, we create real, lasting change.

Psychologist Executive Coach

Every business challenge begins, and ends, with behavior.

That’s why new training programs, strategies, and consultants eventually fizzle.

They might address a business need, but they don’t change root behaviors—or offer systemic solutions. The business keeps suffering.

Over 16 years as a clinical psychologist and executive coach, I’ve learned to reveal behaviors that drive drama, dysfunction, and distrust, or hold people back. Only then can we move forward to solutions, like psychology-driven frameworks and strategies. Change finally lasts, within individuals and organizations.

Let’s find the behaviors behind your challenges, and solve them for good.

Changing behavior and outcomes at:

Clinical Psychologist & Executive Coach

Meet Dr. Michele D’Amico

I've spent 16 years figuring out why talented people and good teams still end up stuck, misaligned, or driving each other crazy.

Before I became an executive coach, I earned my PsyD in Clinical Psychology. I've since added a Marshall Goldsmith Certification and a CELC Executive Coach credential, but I still think like a psychologist first. 

I use assessments, frameworks, and proven methods that many coaches use. The difference is I pair them with a clinical understanding of human behavior. 

That's why my clients at Disney, Uber, Salesforce, and dozens of SMB clients experience meaningful, lasting change in individuals and systems alike. 

If you’re ready for lasting change, let’s talk.

Book a free, 30-minute consultation here.

Psychology-Based Executive Coaching for Organizations

How I Help Organizations & Leaders

I've seen it all: big personalities, clashing teams, resentments, power struggles, and high turnover. Even mutinies.

Leaders and HR pros bring me in when there’s a problem…and it’s always a behavior issue. 

When I work with you, I find those behaviors and reveal what they’re costing your team, culture, and bottom line. Then, through strategies backed by psychology, we implement solutions that actually stick

Change starts with a free, 30-minute consultation.

Executive Coaching

Powerful, psychology-backed coaching for leaders, including assessments, clinical debriefs, and ROI-focused outcomes.

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Stop Promoting Toxic People

Become a magnet for talent and retention with psychological safety, effective conversations, and neuroscience-derived coaching techniques.

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Workshops & Trainings

Transformative group sessions, tailored to your org’s needs, from communication to feedback to ethical leadership—and more.

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AI Adoption Program

Overcome AI adoption barriers and turn employees, managers, and C-Suite into internal innovation champions.

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“When I need a second opinion on a people issue, Michele is one of my first contacts, because her advice comes from a sound base of knowledge blended with a practical recognition of reality.”

Colleen McManus, SHRM-SCP, SPHR

Psychology-Based Executive Coaching for Leaders

How I Help Leaders and Founders

You've read the books, taken courses, and listened to your mentor’s advice.

Yet your confidence isn’t where you want it to be. You feel underestimated and invisible, even if you’re surrounded by indications of success.

This is exactly where I meet leaders and founders. I help you name what’s kept you stuck, then get out of it so you can succeed in your next role, chapter, or hard thing.

It’s a big change, one everyone will notice. And we can do it together.

Personalized Coaching

For leaders and founders looking for personalized guidance. Customized monthly sessions, clinical debriefs, support between sessions, and much more.

Women Founders Circle

“I found Michele when I was seeking to jump-start my 10-year-old business after an unfocused ‘lull’ period. She’s a great reader of people, and she cuts through issues quickly.”

- Laura Nobles

A community mastermind for women founders focused on leadership development, problem-solving, and growth. Limited to 10 women.

As Featured In

You May Be More Stressed Than You Know. Answer These Questions to Find Out.

Inc.

Using Emotional Intelligence And Respect To Resolve Conflict In The Workplace: An Executive Coach's Perspective

Forbes

Expert Tips For Overcoming Conflicts In The Workplace

KTLA

Step 1

An honest conversation about what’s going on and if I’m a fit. Get answers, plus some free advice.

Step 2

Working With a Psychologist Executive Coach

How We Work Together to Create Real Change

Free 30-Minute Consultation

90-Minute Clarity Session

We narrow in on specific challenges and raise solutions during a paid session. As a clinical psychologist, I hear what others don’t.

Step 3

Step 4

Customized Program

I build a custom program for you or your team, then execute the program with detailed debriefs.

Real Change

We achieve real, lasting change by addressing root behaviors and implementing neuroscience-backed solutions.

“If you are looking for clarity, a way to reframe an obstacle, and a path forward, I highly recommend Michele.”

- Alma Robles Apodaca, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, sHRBP

Frequently Asked Questions

What People Want to Know Before We Start

  • A little bit of everything, honestly. I've worked with individuals at Disney, Uber, Salesforce, and a lot of small and mid-sized companies across entertainment, tech, financial services, nonprofits. The industry doesn't really matter because the problems are always human.

    On the individual side, I work with leaders and founders. They’re directors, VPs, and business owners who are sharp and successful, but stuck on something they can't quite figure out.

    Curious if we’re a match? Book a free, 30-minute consultation with me here.

  • Most coaches focus on frameworks and assessments that narrow in on business and operational matters. I do, too, but I also have a doctorate in clinical psychology, which means I'm trained to figure out why people do what they do.

    An executive coach might tell you to delegate and give feedback. I figure out why they aren’t already, making transformation and lasting change possible.

  • It starts with a free 30-minute conversation. We talk about what's going on and whether I'm the right person to help…no pitch, no ressure. If we move forward, I build something customized: assessments, behavioral work, frameworks, or a combination, fully dependent on what’s needed. For organizations, we work together for at least six months because real behavioral change takes time. For individuals and business owners, I have a three month minimum because our work is more focused and narrow.

  • If your team can't communicate, you have a brilliant-yet-impossible executive, people keep leaving, or your career feels stuck…those are the kinds of challenges I solve.

    If you're still unsure, that's what the 30-minute consultation is for. We'll talk it through and I'll tell you straight whether this makes sense or whether you need something else entirely.

    Put some time on the calendar with me here.

  • Leadership training often fails because it focuses on teaching new skills without addressing the underlying behaviors that created the problem. It rarely addresses why a specific leader behaves the way they do, what patterns they're repeating, or what psychological barriers prevent them from applying what they've learned. Lasting change requires understanding behavior at a deeper level, then changing the conditions around it, not just creating awareness.

  • Psychological safety is the belief that you can speak up, disagree, admit mistakes, or ask questions without being punished or humiliated. Teams with high psychological safety consistently outperform teams without it because they reveal problems faster, share information more freely, and take smarter risks. A psychologically safe environment is necessary for learning, creative innovation and high performance. When psychological safety breaks down, teams default to self-protection: withholding ideas, avoiding accountability, and quietly disengaging.

  • Employees rarely resist AI because they don't understand the technology. They resist it because they perceive it as a threat to their identity, competence, and job security. This is a psychological response which is why more training and enthusiastic internal communications rarely solve it. Effective AI adoption requires leaders to acknowledge the fear directly, create psychological safety for honest conversations about what AI means for each role, and help people move through stages of resistance toward genuine integration. Organizations that treat AI adoption as a change management and behavior problem rather than a technology rollout see significantly better results.

  • The most common leadership blind spots tend to involve how a leader affects the people around them rather than how they execute their own work. Patterns like failing to listen before forming an opinion, avoiding difficult conversations, not delegating effectively, and inadvertently undermining trust show up repeatedly across industries and seniority levels. What makes blind spots particularly challenging is that the leader experiencing them genuinely cannot see the pattern. They often require outside perspective through 360 assessments, direct feedback, or working with a coach to be recognized. Once identified, most leaders are motivated to change.

  • Most coaching certifications teach frameworks for goal-setting, accountability, and leadership skills. A coach with a psychology background takes a different approach because they're trained to understand why a leader keeps repeating a pattern, what drives resistance to change, and how interpersonal dynamics form within teams.

    This matters most when an organization has already tried training or consulting and the problem persists. Those situations are almost always behavioral, and they require clinical-level pattern recognition to diagnose and resolve. The result is change that lasts because it addresses root causes, not symptoms.