Melinda Staton
I am Melinda Staton, LPC, Owner of Triumphant Coaching and Counseling LLC based in Virginia. I believe that healing begins beyond survival. I bring clinical expertise, lived experience and lived wisdom to my work in supporting clients through grief, chronic PTSD, chronic medical issues, cancer, military sexual trauma, anxiety, depression, caregiver burnout, and financial trauma. I specialize in helping survivors move from the raw pain and emotions of grief and loss to inner healing, transformation and empowerment. Many of my clients carry trauma that feels isolating, numbing, impossible to overcome or invisible to others—pain that can be hard to explain, hard to believe, or hard to hold alone. I create a space where you feel and know you are truly seen, believed, and supported every step of the journey to healing and wholeness.
Trauma-Informed Therapist moving you through raw emotional pain into transformation, restoration and empowerment.
First session
You can expect me to be present, direct, compassionate, and unwavering in my belief that healing is possible. I will meet you where you are, move at a pace that respects your safety, and partner with you to build a path forward that feels sustainable.
Strengths
My goal centers on helping each person move from managing symptoms to reclaiming their life, their voice, and their power. I aim for therapy to feel both compassionate and practical. Sessions are a place where you can slow down, tell the truth about what you are carrying, and begin to make sense of it without pressure to “get over it” on someone else’s timeline. Together, we may work on: · Rebuilding a sense of safety in your body, relationships, and daily life · Understanding how trauma responses show up as anxiety, depression, shutdown, over-functioning, or burnout · Processing grief and loss while honoring your unique relationship to who or what you lost · Developing grounding, emotional regulation, and coping tools you can use between sessions · Recognizing survival patterns around money, caregiving, and relationships · Setting boundaries that protect your energy and values · Reclaiming your voice, confidence, and sense of agency · Moving from symptom management toward a life that feels like yours again
Ideal clients
I work with adults who are navigating the aftermath of trauma, grief, anxiety, depression, caregiving stress, and financial hardship. Many of my clients are survivors who have learned to keep going by pushing through—yet inside, they feel exhausted, unseen, or disconnected from themselves. Some are veterans or military-connected individuals. Some are caregivers who have spent years putting others first. Some are grieving losses that others do not fully understand. I welcome clients who are ready to be met with honesty, warmth, and a practical plan for healing.
Treatment methods
Brainspotting
Brainspotting is a focused, trauma-informed therapy that helps identify and process unresolved emotional experiences stored in the brain and body. By locating specific eye positions, or “brainspots,” clients can access deeper emotional material beyond conscious awareness. I use this approach to support healing from trauma, anxiety, stress, grief, performance challenges, and other emotional difficulties, helping individuals build emotional strength, gain insight, and move toward lasting emotional well-being.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based approach that helps people identify and change unhelpful thought patterns, emotions, and behaviors that may contribute to stress, anxiety, depression, and other challenges. CBT focuses on developing practical coping skills, improving problem-solving, and building healthier ways of thinking. By working collaboratively, I use this approach to help clients learn strategies they can apply in everyday life to create lasting emotional and behavioral change.
Strength-Based
Strengths-Based Therapy is a positive, empowering approach that focuses on identifying and building upon a client’s existing strengths, abilities, and resources rather than concentrating solely on problems or deficits. I use this collaborative approach to help individuals recognize their strengths, develop confidence, and leverage their unique skills to overcome challenges. By highlighting what is already working, strengths-based therapy supports personal growth, self-efficacy, and meaningful, lasting change.
Trauma-Informed Care
Trauma-Informed Care is an approach to therapy that recognizes the widespread impact of trauma and its effects on emotional, physical, and mental well-being. It emphasizes safety, trust, collaboration, and empowerment while avoiding re-traumatization. Rather than asking, “What’s wrong with you?”, as a trauma-informed care therapist I ask, “What happened to you?” This compassionate framework allows me to help clients heal at their own pace, build emotional strength, and develop healthier ways of coping and connecting with others. Coherence Therapy is an experiential, depth-oriented therapy based on the neuroscience of memory reconsolidation, the brain's natural process for permanently updating emotional learnings that no longer serve us. Rather than focusing primarily on symptom management, coherence therapy helps clients uncover the unconscious beliefs and emotional truths driving distress. When these emotional patterns are fully accessed and connected with new, contradictory experiences, lasting change can occur. This approach is often used for anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship difficulties, and self-defeating patterns. h Coherence Therapy and Memory Reconsolidation are approaches that help identify and transform the unconscious emotional learnings that contribute to distress. Grounded in neuroscience, I use this method to help clients gain insight into the deeper roots of their challenges and experience meaningful, lasting change. This approach can be effective for anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship concerns, and personal growth.
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a mindfulness-based, evidence-supported approach that helps people develop greater psychological flexibility. Rather than struggling to eliminate difficult thoughts or emotions, ACT teaches clients to accept internal experiences while taking meaningful action aligned with their values. Through mindfulness, self-awareness, and values-based goal setting, I help clients learn to navigate challenges more effectively and create a richer, more fulfilling life. ACT is commonly used to support anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, and life transitions.
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
Black / African American
Woman
Top specialties
Depression
Grief
Life Transitions
Other specialties
Anxiety
Burnout
Childhood / Intergenerational Trauma
Chronic Illness / Medical Issues
Codependency
Trauma and PTSD
Serves
Adults (18 to 64)
Elders (65 and above)
Individual Therapy
Woman
Licensed in
VirginiaLicense 0701014609