In hopes that I would feel less like a stranger to you, here’s a little bit about me:

My name is Melissa and I have been a licensed counselor for well over a decade now and fully licensed since 2018. My dad was a Pastor for over 30 years and I can remember from a young age wanting to help him with the difficult counseling stories he would encounter. I wanted to be equipped to serve the church in this way. I started my counseling courses in graduate school, and felt like I found what God had crafted me for.

At the age of 23, I married Ben, who was headed into church ministry. We have been able to celebrate 15 years of a beautiful journey together, filled with ups and downs, the sweet and the bitter. After an early miscarriage of our first child, God blessed us with 4 beautiful boys. I like to say that parenting has made me a better counselor and counseling a better parent. Either way, I have learned I owe my parents a huge “Thank you,” because parenting is way harder that I ever expected and also one of God’s greatest tools for growth in my life. I have learned that ministry happens both inside and outside of our home, and integrity is key to having joy in it all.

A unique and divinely intentional aspect of my story is my journey living with a genetic disease. From the age of 20 God started helping me to develop a theology of suffering as I learned to live with the brokenness of my body, and at times in my spirit. This is one of the tools God has used to help me relate to the pain and suffering of others, both physically and emotionally. Because of our Hope in Christ Jesus Himself, we can have both peace and joy in the midst of the hard. In the middle of the story, when the waves are throwing us around, and when up is indistinguishable from down, we can lock eyes with Christ, trusting that He indeed is who He says he is. He will lead us. He will never leave us. And He will bring us, by his strength, to the finish line.

I love being able to use the counseling room to help women embody their faith. My primary theory that I use is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, because it is what I use in my own life. I commonly color that theory, when helpful, with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Transactional Analysis, and some Solution Focused Skills. My goal is to provide the roadmap for you to continue to grow into the woman that God has crafted you to be, inside and outside of your home, with joy and peace as the fruit of your labor!