Melisa Maling

After spending over 35 years doing child welfare work, I started a second career by returning to exclusively direct work with clients. My prior experience taught me to really understand the value of support and listening. It also helped me to learn and understand the depth of despair and confusion that one can experience due to unresolved childhood wounds and trauma, as well as the need to reinterpret and untangle issues we experience as adults that can result in addictions, anxiety, and depression. And, sometimes, we experience a lack of direction and just don’t know where to start. We all need support and compassion in bearing witness to our struggles while helping us to build on our existing strengths. Training on how distress is stored in our body and impacts how we think, react, and care for ourselves has shaped my practice to be diverse in my approach when meeting clients where they are. I strongly make use of existing strengths while using an eclectic and innovative approach.

My approach to therapy is centered in knowing that the client themself is the expert about their life and experience. I ask clients to consider questions about what they have experienced, and allow time and space for them to consider the impact their experience has had on their life. I strongly emphasize the need for the client to assess their level of stress and distress, and am invested in helping the clients learn how to settle themselves, in order to truly address the issues that have prompted them to seek help.

In the first session, clients can expect that I will spend a few minutes sharing more information about myself and allow for questions from them. I ask them questions about what brings them to seek help, and what they may even begin to foresee they are looking to accomplish. I assure them that it is okay if they're not sure, and further assure them that we will continue to be curious about this discovery. I will be very interested to hear what is going well in their lives.