Hello! My name is Melissa (she/her pronouns) and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been in the profession for 10 years. Currently in Monterey County, I have historically served children and their families. I have treated individuals from various backgrounds and specialize in anxiety disorders, mood disorders, identity/gender exploration, trauma, and adversity. I believe that therapy can serve you in a multitude of ways and it's your choice on how you would like to navigate this journey. In your sessions, I would support you with mental health tools and a safe and non-judgmental space to explore, process, and learn from your experiences.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session, it's important for us to share introductions and the reason why your are attending therapy. Because I focus on person-centered treatment, it is important for us to review your desired goals of treatment and for me to share how we could achieve them with intervention support.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
My greatest strengths as a therapist is being able to connect with the individual and exploring interventions that could be used to support your treatment. I am invested in your emotional well-being and aim to ensure that you have a healthy and healing experience during the therapeutic process.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
I love working with adolescents and adults who are willing to engage and eager to learn. Everyone deserves happiness and a positive outlook on their emotional health. We are all challenged with stressors and experiences and it's important to learn how to manage and heal in a healthy manner.
About Melissa Jimenez Staretorp
Identifies as
Serves ages
Licensed in
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Appointments
VirtualMy treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
CBT is a helpful foundation to utilize when understanding how thoughts, feelings, and actions connect to one another. It's important to learn about our emotions and thinking patterns so that you can break the cycle and improve the impact of your actions. Coping strategies are integral in supporting this process. CBT is helpful for individuals who struggle with depression, anxiety, and addiction.
Attachment-based
Attachment -based therapy is helpful in many ways with intervention support for youth and their caregivers as well as understanding the impacts of family dynamics/interpersonal relationships and how intervention support can help strengthen your attachment. Specifically, I have Level I Training in Theraplay that uses play to help strengthen the child-caregiver relationship.
Trauma-Focused CBT
TF-CBT aligns with CBT and understanding how past traumas impact your thoughts, feelings and actions. With TF-CBT, structuring sessions will be important to help focus on processing the trauma event with supports of psychoeducation, coping strategies, and caregiver.
Daialectical Behavior (DBT)
DBT is best described in understanding how your triggers impact your emotions, thoughts, and actions. When understanding these triggers, one can learn different coping skills to help best communicate your needs so that you are able to be more present and intentional with your actions when receiving the individual's response.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
This form of therapy combines strategies of meditation, various relaxation techniques , and using strategies to help increase self-awareness can help ground you in various situations that may be stressful or triggering. Adding these strategies to your coping skills toolbox will help strengthen your confidence to help self-regulate.