About Melanie
Melanie Reyes is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She helps people who feel overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, depression, grief, addiction, or big life changes. People often come for help with sleep problems, low self-esteem, parenting strain, relationship concerns, or career stress.
She also supports those coping with trauma, compassion fatigue, bipolar mood challenges, and chronic illness or pain. Melanie uses a hands-on, body-aware approach alongside talking therapy. She draws on somatic techniques to help people notice how emotions show up in the body.
Background and approach
She also uses client-centered methods to follow each person's pace and priorities. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or EMDR, is another tool she may use for trauma work. Sessions focus on practical steps people can try between meetings.
Melanie mixes breathing and mindfulness exercises with focused conversation. She also uses motivational interviewing to help people clarify goals and find the next small step. The tone is direct, caring, and grounded in real-life problems.
Melanie has 12 years of clinical experience as a LMFT - Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She practices in California and offers services in English and Tagalog. Online options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging.
Getting started is straightforward: choose Start Therapy, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to therapist availability. Fees vary with location and use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How somatic and talk therapies work online
Somatic Therapy helps people notice body sensations tied to emotions and stress. Online sessions can use guided breath work, gentle movement cues, and awareness exercises to bring attention to those sensations and reduce reactivity. This approach is often used for trauma, anxiety, and chronic stress.Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and following the client's lead. In this approach the therapist creates space for a person to set goals, name priorities, and work at their own pace. EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing - uses structured sets of attention to help process traumatic memories and strong emotions; some elements translate to online work through guided bilateral stimulation and focused recall.
Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit their needs, goals, and comfort level. That decision is flexible and can change as goals evolve.
Online therapy offers practical benefits like flexible scheduling and easier access from home. Video calls allow face-to-face interaction for exercises and EMDR work, while phone, live chat, and text-based messaging give alternatives for people who prefer less visual contact or need short check-ins. These options make it easier to keep continuity of care during busy or changing schedules.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 12 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English, Tagalog