Bio I'm Melissa and I'm an LPC in the State of Virginia. I am passionate about mental health, healing, and hope. Understanding your mental health and what is going on with you is the starting point on your healing journey. I grew up in Seattle Washington and attended college in Oregon. I received my Master’s in Professional Counseling through Liberty University in 2016. I've lived in Virginia for the past 15 years. I am a single mom with 4 kids. I love laughing, reading, and spending time with my kids. I grew up in an alcoholic family and credit Jesus with keeping me away from the dysfunction I grew up in. I offer a Christian worldview. I have been a counselor for 8 years and have worked with many age groups with various diagnoses and in a variety of settings. Counseling needs to be a safe place and a counselor needs to be a person who can handle talking about the tough stuff. Counseling is not polite conversation. I begin the counseling relationship with developing emotional safety, educating clients about mental health and creating a better understanding of what is going on with them, processing their experiences, and developing a "toolbox" to help them improve their lives. I focus on emotions- why we have them, how to sit with them, and how to manage them. I believe that "the only way out is through" and to tackle struggles, a comprehensive approach is needed to look at family history, family dynamics, biological issues, psychological issues, cultural influences, medical history, social influences, spiritual influences, and current level of functioning. This information allows me to plan treatment to ensure that you receive the best care. I provide counseling for relationship struggles parenting, trauma, anxiety, depression, adjustment disorders, ADHD, and adult children of alcoholics.

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

Our first session will be about gathering info about your life. What has brought you to counseling at this time, who raised you, what it was like, what significant relationships have impacted you, what challenges/traumas have you faced, what was school like for you, what hobbies do you have, what impairments do you have, family and personal history of mental and physical health, among other things. This is a time for me to get a good feel for you and how to proceed with treatment. I will also discuss my view of counseling and share a little bit about my professional experience. My favorite part of the first session is getting to know about your strengths and personal goals for counseling.

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

My biggest strengths include teaching clients about mental health, equipping them with tools to use outside of counseling to improve their quality of life. I balance having grit and empathy, and having a good handle on evidence-based practices. I focus on the client and their whole story and what led them to where they are at today. I like to think that my greatest strength; however, is developing a strong therapeutic relationship with my clients and maintaining emotional safety to talk about the tough stuff.

About Melissa West