Melissa has over 20 years of experience helping intelligent, high-functioning women navigate anxiety, depression, and repeating relationship patterns — especially when their marriage or closest relationships feel confusing, unsatisfying, or heavy. Many clients arrive exhausted from carrying the emotional weight in their relationships, unsure why they keep finding the same dynamics or blaming themselves. Melissa specializes in relational trauma and emotional regulation, helping clients gain clarity about what’s really driving their distress. Rather than just treating symptoms, she helps you understand and shift long-standing patterns rooted in early family dynamics so you can make steadier, more grounded decisions in life and relationships. Her approach is warm, direct, and insight-oriented. Clients often move from burnout and self-blame toward clearer thinking, steadier emotional responses, and greater confidence in themselves and their relationships. Telehealth sessions are available Tuesday–Friday, and Melissa can typically schedule new clients within one week.
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
In our first session, we’ll start by slowing things down. I’ll want to understand what’s bringing you in—not just the symptoms, but the patterns behind them. Many of my clients come in thinking they’re “just anxious” or “just depressed,” but as we talk, we begin to see how relationship dynamics, early family roles, and chronic over-responsibility may be contributing. You don’t need to have everything figured out or tell your whole life story right away. We’ll move at a pace that feels steady and manageable. I’ll ask thoughtful questions, offer perspective, and help you begin organizing what may currently feel tangled. By the end of the first session, most clients leave with greater clarity about what’s actually happening—and a clearer sense of where we’re headed.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
One of Melissa’s greatest strengths is her ability to quickly identify patterns that clients have been living inside for years without fully seeing. She is warm and approachable, but also direct and thoughtful—clients often describe feeling both deeply understood and gently challenged. Her work is grounded in an understanding of relational trauma and nervous system regulation, but she goes beyond coping skills. Melissa helps clients connect the dots between childhood roles, current relationship dynamics, and internal self-blame. Together, you’ll build emotional regulation, clearer boundaries, and a more grounded sense of self—without resorting to shame or avoidance. Clients who work well with Melissa are open to reflection and willing to look at their own patterns. In return, they gain clarity, steadiness, and the confidence to make decisions that align with reality rather than fear.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
Melissa is best positioned to work with intelligent, high-functioning women who feel quietly burned out in their relationships. Many have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression but sense that something deeper is driving their distress—repeating patterns, over-responsibility, resentment, or chronic self-blame. Her ideal clients are thoughtful and capable, but tired of carrying the emotional weight in their marriages, families, or careers. They’re willing to look at their own patterns—not to shame themselves, but to understand how they got here and how to move forward differently. If you’re ready for honest reflection, clearer boundaries, and decisions grounded in reality rather than fear, Melissa’s approach will resonate with you.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Melissa uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help clients recognize how long-standing thought patterns are reinforcing anxiety, depression, and relational distress. Rather than just challenging isolated thoughts, she helps clients identify deeper cognitive themes—self-blame, over-responsibility, catastrophizing, and all-or-nothing thinking—that often developed in early family dynamics. Together, you’ll build awareness of the connection between thoughts, emotions, and behavior, and practice practical strategies that lead to clearer thinking, steadier emotional regulation, and more effective decision-making.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
Melissa integrates Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills to help clients build emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and more grounded responses in their relationships. Many of her clients appear composed on the outside but feel internally overwhelmed or reactive. DBT tools help strengthen mindfulness, reduce emotional overdrive, and support clearer, more balanced decision-making—especially in moments of relational stress.
Trauma Informed Care
Melissa works from a trauma-informed perspective, understanding how early relational experiences influence present-day anxiety, depression, and relationship patterns. Her approach prioritizes safety, nervous system regulation, and steady pacing while helping clients identify and shift protective patterns that are no longer serving them.
Psychoeducation
Melissa integrates psychoeducation into her work to help clients understand how relational patterns, nervous system responses, and cognitive habits develop over time. Many clients feel relief simply from having language for what they’ve been experiencing. By learning how early roles, attachment dynamics, and stress responses influence current relationships, clients gain clarity and a stronger sense of direction. Rather than offering advice alone, Melissa explains the “why” behind behaviors and emotional reactions, empowering clients to make grounded, informed changes rather than reactive ones.
Gottman method
Melissa incorporates principles from the Gottman Method to help clients better understand communication patterns, conflict dynamics, and emotional responsiveness within their relationships. Drawing from decades of research on what strengthens or destabilizes partnerships, she helps clients identify recurring interaction cycles, recognize escalation patterns, and develop clearer, more effective ways of responding. While Melissa primarily works with individuals, Gottman-informed tools are especially helpful for clients navigating marital stress, emotional disconnection, or repeated conflict. The focus is on increasing awareness, improving communication, and making grounded decisions about how to move forward.
1 rating with written reviews
October 30, 2025
I’ve been seeing Melissa for a couple of months now & she is probably the best individual therapist I’ve seen. She is honest, direct, solution-oriented, & incredibly educated. Our visits aren’t just venting sessions; she does a great job of identifying an issue & immediately coming up w/ strategies to implement for future issues. She really focuses on not only listening & providing empathy, but also teaching real coping skills. I definitely recommend her to anyone seeking a practical approach.