I am a licensed professional counselor in Arizona and Louisiana. I work with individuals, families and children birth to any age who are struggling to overcome trauma or other adverse situations. My passion is children and families. Grow accepts age 6 and up but if you are a parent of a younger child, I would be happy to work with you on parenting stress and help you build skills to support your young child's mental health and minimize challenging behaviors that limit family enjoyment and fulfillment. I am rostered in Child Parent Psychotherapy and basic trained in EMDR. I use play and art therapy techniques and parenting education in my work with children. With adults and children I approach therapy from a person centered framework and utilize other methodologies such as CBT to help you become a more fulfilled version of yourself. I have worked with people from all walks of life and socioeconomic status in outpatient settings, community based programs, group homes, day programs and families involved with children's services. I have experience with young children starting at birth, families, adolescents, adults and seriously mentally ill individuals. If you are seeking help for your child or yourself I would be happy to meet with you for a consultation.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
There are things that must happen at the start of counseling. We have to develop a treatment plan and goals as required for insurances. However, I am a very person-centered counselor. I don't like to just jump into homework and skills training. Rather I prefer to hear your story, get to know you and allow you to get comfortable with me. As we talk we will identify areas of challenges and needs. Then we will decide together what the best course of action to follow such as if a particular form of therapy is most appropriate for you.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I am a very caring individual with a lot of empathy. I genuinely care about my clients and want to see them succeed. I strive to gain knowledge if I need to understand how to better help my clients. I understand what it is to be on the other side of counseling and really respect the courage it takes to take that first step and to keep coming when it feels challenging.
About Melanie Dowler
Specializes in
Licensed in
Accepts
Appointments
VirtualMy treatment methods
Child Parent Psychotherapy
I am rostered in child parent psychotherapy. I worked with children and parents involved in the child welfare system. I provided child parent assessments to the court and support parents and children in healing. Parenting education is also a large part of the process in supporting parents as well as teaching self-regulation skills to both parents and children.
Christian Counseling
I am a Christian and will work with a client from a Christian perspective if they choose.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
i utilize CBT with individuals to learn new ways of thinking and acting. I use it within a person centered approach to allow the individual to share their experiences and apply the skill to their personal situations.
EMDR
I have worked with clients who have experienced trauma throughout my therapy career. EMDR is not for everyone so I ensure I get to know clients, their history, needs and physical health prior to engaging in EMDR.
Motivational Interviewing
I believe everyone has answers within them and sometimes they just need help unraveling the ties that are binding them. Asking the right questions can open doors to insight, clarity and healing.