Licensed to practice in 2 states and accepts 9 insurances. Specializes in Women's Issues, Couples Counseling, Anxiety and 10 more.
(she/her)
New to Grow
I'm Malanne, a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and founder of SlateCole Counseling and Consultation. I work with high-functioning women, couples, caregivers, and fellow helping professionals; the people who keep everyone else's world running while quietly running on empty themselves. My path into this work wasn't purely academic. Before opening my own practice, I spent years in child welfare, foster care, residential treatment, and school-based mental health, settings that taught me how much people can carry while still showing up, still functioning, still holding it together for everyone watching. I've also walked my own path as a wife, mother, entrepreneur, and cancer survivor, and I know firsthand what it means to keep caring for others while learning to care for yourself too. I bring that lived understanding into the room alongside my clinical training. I'm the author of 31 Days to a Merry Modern Marriage; and relational healing, whether within a marriage, a family, or a friendship with yourself, is at the center of how I practice. In session, I'm warm, direct, and practical. I don't believe therapy should feel clinical or distant, and I don't believe you have to hit a breaking point to deserve support. My approach draws on CBT, ACT, and trauma-informed care, but the real work is helping you feel less alone in what you're carrying, and giving you real tools to carry it differently, or set some of it down.
Your first session with me is about connection, not clinical checklists. I know reaching out for therapy can feel vulnerable, especially if you're used to being the one everyone else leans on. So in our first session together, my goal is simple: to help you feel heard, and to make sure this feels like the right fit for you. Here's what you can expect: We'll start by talking about what brought you to therapy: what's been weighing on you, what you're hoping will feel different, and what "better" would actually look like in your life. There's no pressure to have it all figured out or perfectly articulated. Some clients come in with a clear picture of what they want to work on; others just know they're exhausted and need somewhere to start. Both are okay. I'll also ask about your history: your relationships, your background, what's supported you in the past, and what hasn't. Not to dig for the sake of digging, but because context matters. I want to understand the whole person in front of me, not just the presenting problem. Together, we'll talk through what treatment could look like: how often we'll meet, what approaches might fit best, and what early progress might feel like. You'll leave that first session with a clearer sense of direction, and permission to be exactly where you are, without judgment. Above all, I want you to leave that first appointment feeling like you were actually seen, maybe for the first time in a while.
What makes my sessions different is the balance I bring; I'm not a therapist who only nods and reflects, and I'm not one who pushes just to push. I meet you where you are in the moment. Some sessions call for quiet, steady space to simply be heard without interruption. Others call for a gentle challenge; a question that asks you to look a little closer at a pattern, a belief, or a story you've been telling yourself. I move between the two naturally, because healing isn't one-size-fits-all, and neither is how someone needs to be met on a given day. My own life has given me a wide lens for understanding what it means to carry weight quietly. I've lived as an immigrant who built a life in the United States, as a wife, mother, and caregiver, balancing more roles than any one person should have to hold, as a professional who spent years inside systems: child welfare, foster care, residential treatment, that don't always treat the people in them with the dignity they deserve, and as someone who has faced a serious health battle and come out the other side. I don't say this to center my own story in our work together, I say it because it means I understand resilience, reinvention, and the exhaustion of "holding it together" from the inside, not just from a textbook. That combination, clinical training paired with real lived experience, means I can offer both deep empathy and honest, practical guidance. I won't just validate what you're going through; I'll also help you see what might be possible on the other side of it.
My ideal client is often a woman who looks like she has it all together, but inside, she's exhausted. She's a wife, a mother, a caregiver, a professional, or often several of these at once, and she's spent so long being the strong one that she's forgotten what it feels like to be supported herself. She may be navigating burnout, a marriage that feels more like a partnership of logistics than connection, the emotional weight of caregiving, or the quiet toll of holding space for everyone else's needs before her own. She's not in crisis, she's functioning, showing up, getting things done, but she knows something underneath needs attention before it catches up with her. She's ready to do real work. She doesn't want to just vent; she wants tools, insight, and honest reflection. She's open to being challenged as much as she's looking to be heard, and she's willing to try things between sessions, not just during them. Whether she's facing a life transition, relationship strain, caregiver fatigue, or simply the exhaustion of holding everything together, she's ready to stop surviving and start reconnecting; with herself, her relationships, and the life she actually wants.
I identify as
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I use CBT to help clients identify the thought patterns that fuel anxiety, self-doubt, and emotional exhaustion, especially the automatic thoughts that keep high-functioning clients stuck in cycles of overworking, overgiving, or self-criticism. Together, we examine those patterns and build more accurate, sustainable ways of thinking that support real change in daily life.
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
ACT helps clients stop fighting difficult emotions and instead build a healthier relationship with them. I use this approach to help clients clarify their values; what actually matters to them beneath the roles and obligations; and take meaningful action aligned with those values, even when discomfort is present.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I draw on DBT skills, particularly around emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness, to give clients practical tools for managing overwhelm in the moment and communicating more effectively in their relationships, especially useful for clients balancing multiple roles under chronic stress.
Trauma Informed Care
All of my work is grounded in a trauma-informed lens, which means I pay close attention to how past experiences: whether from family systems, relationships, or systemic/institutional stress; continue to shape a client's nervous system, patterns, and sense of safety today. This shapes the pace and approach of our work together, never pushing faster than a client is ready for.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
I incorporate mindfulness practices to help clients reconnect with the present moment, recognize stress signals in their body before they escalate, and build the kind of self-awareness that makes lasting change possible, particularly valuable for clients who are used to running on autopilot.