Melissa Balent is fully booked.
I'm a licensed professional counselor and licensed addiction counselor. I have been practicing over 13 years. My therapeutic process centers on expressing the authentic self and supporting your growth in meaningful areas that are important to your life goals. I specialize in trauma, depression, anxiety, relationship issues, stress, grief and loss, life transitions, self-esteem, work stress, veteran issues, and recovery from substance use.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
When meeting for the first time, we take time to get to know one another and build a therapeutic relationship, explore concerns, and background information, and develop a plan for moving forward in treatment that makes sense to your needs and concerns. Please feel free to ask questions, discuss your needs, and describe what brings you to seek therapy, such as what has been happening in your life and what you would like to be different.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
What led me to become a therapist was a desire to improve the lives of others as therapy had made such a difference in my own life. I would like to remove the stigma of seeking help. What drives me is the importance of connection in making a difference in mental well-being. When we choose to seek therapy, we are making the courageous choice to reduce suffering by processing pain and becoming a healthier and stronger version of ourselves. We all are trying to cope and have room to grow, heal, and learn; making a difference in our lives and others.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
I am passionate about supporting individuals facing various life challenges such as physical disabilities or chronic health conditions; neurodivergent; work stress; relationship issues; family dysfunction; low self-confidence; feeling lonely, sad, or anxious; exploring life or career goals; or simply needing someone to talk to during a tough time. No matter what you've been through, I am here for you step-by-step.
About Melissa Balent
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Fully bookedMy treatment methods
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
I utilize ACT as a treatment modality to help clients reduce distress, improve their relationship with themselves (self-concept), manage difficult life situations such as illness, divorce, and life stressors (address avoidance), to get unstuck from ruminating thoughts and beliefs about themselves and others (shift perspectives, silver linings), and develop psychological flexibility and acceptance of their lived experiences in recovery from trauma, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and living with chronic pain through cognitive defusion and mindfulness practice. I often combine skills and applications of this theory with other therapeutic modalities such as emotion-focused, attachment-based, dialectical behavioral therapy, compassion-focused, trauma-focused techniques when treating clients with severe issues of distress and distrust in interpersonal relationships and lived experiences from trauma experienced in childhood through adulthood that has affected the way they see themselves and others and are having difficulty in managing their symptoms.
Trauma Informed Care
As for my background in trauma-informed care, I am a veteran who was one of the first sexual assault coordinators for the Air Force. I was trained and gave trainings in this area and presented nationally regarding the co-morbidity of sexual assault and substance use of military members. The trauma-informed lens recognizes that each person has a story to tell, an experience regarding what has happened to them. It provides sensitivity to the various intersections of self, society, faith, ethnicity, community, and lived experiences. Trauma is complex, and it happens from feelings of rejection, grief that is unresolved, loss of a friend, family member, or pet. It could even be not being able to perform the same job anymore, discovery of an illness, living with a chronic decease. It can also be a veteran who is transitioning from service, someone who has experienced some difficulties, along with the vicarious traumas and burnout experienced by first responders, health care providers, teachers, etc.. These are some of the people I work with, and those that have also experienced oppression, criminal justice involved, discrimination, and other marginalized individuals who carry the emotional pain of what has happened to them and even those of their ancestors. Trauma informed care explores the world from the client's perspective, what their world is internally and externally for them with sensitivity and empathy, creating a safe space to share, explore, process, release, grieve, and heal.
Christian Counseling
I am a Christian, and provide integrated treatment regarding this faith for my clients that would like this. I have been trained in this modality through my education and application throughout my practice with respect to my client's belief system and values. Some clients want a Christian counselor, one that is supportive of their faith as part of their lived experience and healing journey as it is a protective factor. They want to feel supported in this way so they can be their authentic self and share their belief system with someone who they feel will support them applying to their life difficulties. I work at the level my client's desire of faith integrated and where it makes sense for them, as it is their values that are being supported in therapy. I am informed in my practice as a counselor from my faith; however, as a default, I provide secular only counseling that is evidence-based with all my clients no matter what their faith or background. When a client desires faith integrated in our session, it is integrated as a way to support the client in their processing of their values for addressing their concerns through the lens of their Christian beliefs, and not as a replacement of their pastor or religious leader. Clients seeking a counselor that is of Christian faith and supports their values as to whether or not it is added to therapy is a reason some client will want to work with me as a therapist. I also work with clients who have been victims of religious abuse and support clients in therapy processing through traumas as a result of what has happened in the church or being part of a cult.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I use cognitive behavioral therapy to address thoughts, emotions, behaviors, feelings, life stressors. I often integrate this modality with somatic and mindfulness-based interventions to address the difficulties clients experience with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, substance use, trauma, relationships, anger, self-esteem, hurt, fear, managing tasks and focus; and for processing thought and emotional experiences that lead to stress, isolation, loneliness, worry, sadness, burnout, chronic pain, substance use, and other unhealthy habits and behaviors. CBT is the golden standard of evidence-based care and when integrated with other modalities, it addresses a wide range of issues that affects well-being. I will provide psychoeducation, role-plays, homework, skills practice, to work through irrational thoughts and emotion-driven behaviors, develop problem-solving skills, and apply stress reduction skills to manage emotions and mood fluctuations. I also combine CBT with motivational interviewing to explore openness, readiness, while provide validation of my client's strengths and willingness to affect change and transformation in their lives.
Compassion Focused
I utilize CFT, or compassion-focused therapy to support clients in processing of their thoughts, feelings, and emotions, in creating a space to explore their inner world from the perspective of kindness and acceptance, while as a clinician, I am also holding space for the client in the session in this manner of unconditional positive regard and nonjudgmental acceptance. Becoming a compassionate witness to ourselves creates a connected space from which to express and explore through compassionate inquiry, meaning to explore what happened to us with an empathetic perspective to our lived experiences and self-understanding to build self-acceptance, improve mood, reduce anxiety, and fear.