Melissa is a seasoned clinician with over 20 years of experience in child welfare, with a focus on adolescents and young adults in crisis, pregnant and parenting teens, and those who have a trauma history. She is motivated by a passion for adolescents and her community to create therapeutic relationships that are based on compassion, respect, and collaboration. Through building trust and a commitment to authentic relationships she can engage adolescents and young adults who have been considered difficult to work with by others. She utilizes a recovery model of service provision with a strength based perspective and an eclectic mix of therapeutic interventions including: cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, play therapy, and task-focused therapy; as well as faith based counseling when requested. She provides services to youth, their families, and individuals in need. She participates in intra/interagency multi-disciplinary teams to provide comprehensive services to diverse communities and provides clinical supervision to professionals.  Certification in Traumatic Stress Studies, Brain Spotting Phase I, and Neurofeedback Trained.