Hi, I'm Melanie and I am a Californian who studied in Colorado, Italy, Cyprus, and New Orleans, before returning to California to start my work as a therapist. I knew I wanted to be a therapist when I turned 13. I had a terrible group therapy and individual therapy experience and made a commitment to be to others what I needed during that time in my life. I am a dedicated lifelong learner. I feel completely present and excited in trainings specializing in working with our attachment systems through body-oriented, imagery-integrated work. With most clients I integrate EMDR with DARE, a somatic attachment approach to therapy. I also incorporate parts work often. I know that my personal nervous system plays a large part in the healing potential for each session. I prioritize moving my body and surrounding myself with physical resources so that I can lend my secure safety to clients in the midst of processing difficulties. One of the most exciting parts of therapy for me is reflecting back to clients when they're mastering the skills: demonstrating secure safety for themselves. We can get started with a brief consultation call to ensure we'd be a good team for your current therapy goals. I look forward to hearing from you, Melanie Goetz

What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?

In our first session we will cover a handful of logistics that are required and only take a few minutes. I like to use our first session for two things in addition to getting a feel for working with each other. First, I'm curious about the geography and timeline of your life: what contributes to making you the person that you are today. Secondly, I like to hear about the incredible relationships in your life--past and/or present--where you feel free to be your truest self and are unconditionally loved. It'll be with these relationships that we can first start experiencing Resourcing EMDR or attachment-somatic work together.

Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.

I am most skilled in working with ambivalence. Ambivalence can come up as struggling with perfectionism, procrastination, sacrificing dreams, a fear of not making the right choice, a fear of being too much for others, people pleasing, adapting to appease the relationship you are in, feeling like a puppet in someone else's world, remaining too close to unhealthy people, difficulty with setting and expecting others to respect boundaries, a prolonged freeze or faint state, or any number of dynamics in which you find it difficult to identify who you are and what you want, entrusting your ability to express yourself within safe relationships.

Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.

Men and women who prioritize self-growth, who reflect on their own role in unhealthy relationship dynamics, and are wanting to process the impact of unhealthy relationships from childhood, school, dating, and other environments, that feel those experiences are limiting their ability to thrive as their most authentic self. Many of my clients start therapy when they're considering leaving a longterm partner, or following a devasting breakup. Following the transition and grief work, we work through the impact of developmental trauma on repeated relational dynamics in the workplace, family life, and in romantic pursuits. I have had great success working with women and couples from Southeast and Southwest Asian backgrounds, having completed my graduate multicultural research on therapy with Pakistani and Indian populations. I have enjoyed being a therapist to therapists, especially therapists in training: individuals applying to counseling graduate programs, starting practicum, working as associates, as well as, licensed therapists with an interest in healing developmental trauma that sometimes causes countertransference in sessions. New parents who identify that they are jealous of the care their child receives from them, wishing they had it as a child as well. Or, new parents who are fearful of hurting their child as they were hurt by their parent(s).

About Melanie Goetz

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