Hi, I’m Melanie. I specialize in helping people move from surviving to thriving by gently untangling patterns rooted in early trauma and chronic stress. Many of the people I work with long for mutual, nourishing relationships but find themselves overextending, silencing their needs, or feeling invisible. Together, we explore what shaped those patterns and how to begin living in alignment with your values, needs, and hopes for connection. My approach integrates EMDR, Attachment Theory, Parts Work, and Somatic Therapy to support the nervous system and restore trust in your body’s inner wisdom. I’m certified in EMDR and DARe (Dynamic Attachment Re-patterning experience), a somatic model for healing attachment wounds. I regularly incorporate Polyvagal Theory and the Window of Tolerance to help you track your internal state and develop personalized tools for regulation, expression, and connection. In our work together, we’ll make space for all of you—your Wounded Inner Child, Protectors, and Core Self—and honor the ways you’ve learned to survive along the way. From that compassionate foundation, we’ll begin to loosen the grip of old patterns and grow your capacity for ease, connection, and self-trust by guiding your mind and body to recall and absorb a sense of being cared for, appreciated, seen, and valued by me and others, whether imaginary or real life friends and family. This process can open up a life that once felt out of reach: one rooted in clarity, joy, and emotional safety. A little bit about my experience: I attended graduate school in New Orleans and started counseling foster families and teenagers at a juvenile detention center. From the very beginning I've been trauma-informed focused on nervous system regulation (TBRI) and reprocessing (EMDR). I also worked with couples using the Gottman Method at a community clinic. Since moving to California in 2018, I've worked in private practice and since 2020, I exclusively work with adults and couples who are dedicated to ending generational trauma patterns. I am trained in Ongoing and Recent Events EMDR protocols for when terrible, sudden tragedies occur, EMDR intensives for those who want to work through more material in fewer sessions, and EMDR for Children, which has greatly impacted my playfulness with Wounded Child Parts when working with adults. I offer in-person sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, telehealth on Wednesdays, and longer Complex PTSD and couples sessions on Fridays. I’d be honored to walk alongside you on this path of healing and reconnection.
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