About

Hi! I'm Melissa. I have over 15 years of experience helping individuals, couples, and families overcome life's challenges. My specialties include anxiety disorder, overcoming attachment and family of origin issues, and improving self care. I utilize evidence-based approaches such as mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy to help clients make real and lasting changes in their lives. Whatever brings you to counseling, whether it's a relationship under stress or stress in general, we can work together to find a better way forward. Regardless of your age or what has happened in your life, you are capable of becoming the best version of yourself at home, work, and in your personal life. In fact, you already have started this process just by coming to this site and reading this bio.

If you want to work with me as a client, be ready to:
* Learn ::: I like for my clients to understand why we do what we do and to feel informed throughout the therapy process. Being informed in your own care helps keep you committed to it. You won't find woo-woo here, but the mind-body connection is a real thing, and I will teach about that both directly and through homework and exercises for you to learn for yourself what a huge effect a small change can make.
* Work ::: Therapy is not something that happens to you, it's something you do for yourself. It's a teamwork process between client and therapist, with specific goals in mind. No goals are accomplished without some amount of effort, so roll up your sleeves and get ready!
* Connect ::: This might be the scariest part for most people. Getting past whatever is blocking you from living your best life requires a certain vulnerability and openness that can be difficult at times, but I promise, I will make it as painless as possible. Past clients have told me I have a knack for pinpointing their emotions even when they can't seem to label them. Part of what I will offer you is a mirror with which to see your own self, specifically those unhelpful thoughts, behaviors, and beliefs that are keeping you in this unhealthy pattern or cycle, which are hard to see without outside help.

About Me:
I'm also on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn with helpful free advice. Feel free to share with family and friends!

My professional details are thus: educated at Boston College where I studied Psychology and was a part of the Honors Program and Residence Life staff. BA summa cum laude, May 2000. Graduate school at Boston University, down the street, where I studied Clinical Social Work. I was a full-time student, Senior Resident Assistant living on campus supervising kids during a time when the world was highly unstable (school started in August 2001, a few weeks before 9/11), and I worked an internship for the social work program, including at the esteemed Boston Children's Hospital, where I was on staff on the Inpatient Psychiatry Unit (that's the one where they send the really sick kids and teens, so I saw about every kind of mental health condition). From BU I received my MSW and a Certificate in Family Therapy in May 2003. My subsequent post-grad work took place in Pennsylvania, where I had moved to start a family. I have worked in home-based counseling, residential, and private practice. I added a Yoga Teacher certificate to my credentials in 2017 but it turns out I don't really like teaching classes. I have had a private practice in Florida since 2013.

My husband and I are raising three teens, a dog and a cat in a rural part of Central Florida. For fun and relaxation, I enjoy hot yoga, gardening, reading literature (not just any kind of books, I have high standards), and anything outdoors and adventurous-- hiking, kayaking, camping, rock climbing, mountain biking, skiing for example. I believe life is meant to be lived to the fullest, and that no matter what cards we may have been dealt (mine were not the best, I'll always be honest about that), we always have the choice of how we play them. Why not have fun and be as alive and happy as possible? As Mary Oliver so wisely says, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

If you think we might be a good fit for working together, please reach out. You're welcome to switch to another therapist any time and I won't be offended. Therapy is a very important relationship that's important to get right if it's to work. I only want to work with clients who really want to work with me. It just goes better that way. Thanks for reading!