

Finding quality mental health care in Portsmouth is easier with Headway. Aetna members can access therapy with copays as low as $0-$30 per session, with flexible scheduling and 377 providers available. Start with a free intake call.
As a Licensed Therapist in MA and NH, I believe prioritizing mental health is key to happiness and stability in life. Seeking support can be one of the hardest steps. Congratulations on taking making it here! I’ve been practicing for over 15 years, seeing ages 5 to 70 years. I predominately focus in areas of Anxiety, Depression, Behavior and Trauma.
I am compassionate and eager to help my clients understand and overcome their struggles.
I’m an LCSW currently licensed in CT, MA, NH, and ME. I believe that therapy is most effective when it’s practical and empowering. Whether you’re managing anxiety, depression, life transitions or grief, I aim to create a safe and supportive space where growth and change feel possible. My role is not to “fix” but to walk with you to gain insight, develop tools and move towards the version of you that feels most authentic.
You're the one people call when things fall apart. You're good at it — steady, competent, the person who knows what to do. And somewhere along the way you stopped having anywhere to put your own stuff.
So you can run the meeting, hold the crisis, answer the phone at 2 a.m. — and still not be able to make yourself open the mail. Competence and collapse live together far more often than anyone admits out loud.
I work with adults carrying that particular load: substance use and recovery, emotions that arrive at full volume with no dimmer switch, thoughts of self-harm or not wanting to be here, and the specific erosion that comes from caring for other people for a living. Helpers, clinicians, parents, first responders — people whose exhaustion doesn't have an obvious place to go. I work with teenagers too, often the ones in families like these.
My style is direct, warm, and collaborative. I'm not going to nod quietly for fifty minutes. We'll find what's actually driving things, build skills you can use on a Tuesday afternoon when it counts, and I'll tell you honestly what I'm seeing. You set the pace. I'll bring the structure.
My name is Melanie Hunter and I am a licensed professional counselor with over 20 years of experience as a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) practitioner. I hold a Master of Arts degree in Professional Counseling with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Texas State University. I began my career working with adolescents through a non-profit organization and then later, adults in employment settings. My work providing telehealth counseling with adults began in 2020.



Headway makes it easy to get affordable in-network mental health care with Aetna — from finding the right therapist or psychiatrist, to understanding costs, to booking your first session.