About Melissa
Melissa Benson is a licensed mental health counselor in Florida with 24 years of experience. She helps people facing stress, anxiety, grief, depression, addiction, ADHD, and life changes. Her approach is respectful and compassionate, aimed at practical steps that fit each person’s situation.
Melissa focuses on clear conversations and steady support. Sessions center on what matters most to the client and on creating small, doable goals. She adjusts pacing and techniques to match each person’s needs rather than using a one-size-fits-all plan.
Background and approach
She uses client-centered methods to follow the client’s lead and build trust. Cognitive behavioral techniques are used to identify unhelpful thinking and try new behaviors. Mindfulness helps people notice their reactions without harsh self-judgment.
Motivational interviewing supports those who feel stuck or ambivalent about change, especially around addictions or habits. Solution-focused ideas keep work practical and goal-directed so clients see progress between sessions. Melissa tailors the session format and plan to the individual.
Whether someone wants to work on relationships, parenting stress, sleep, or self-esteem, the focus is on realistic steps and steady support. She aims to help people find more balance and clearer choices in their daily life.
Approaches that translate well to online therapy
Client-Centered Therapy centers on listening and following the client’s priorities. In practice this means sessions focus on the issues the person brings, building trust, and adjusting the pace to what feels right. This approach often helps with stress, grief, and relationship worries.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at thoughts and behaviors to create change. It uses concrete exercises and homework to try new reactions to anxiety, depression, or sleep problems. Online sessions can include simple worksheets or guided practice between meetings.
Mindfulness Therapy teaches noticing physical sensations and thoughts without judgment. Short mindfulness exercises can reduce reactivity to stress and support better sleep and emotion regulation, and they are easy to practice during the week.
Finding the right approach is collaborative. The therapist will talk with the client about goals and preferences, then recommend methods to try. That plan can change over time based on what helps most.
Online formats offer practical benefits. Video calls let people use visual cues and practice skills together. Phone sessions need less bandwidth and can fit into a work break. Live chat or text-based messaging works for quick check-ins, brief coping tools, or when writing feels easier than talking. These options aim to make therapy more flexible and easier to fit into daily life.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Guilt and shame
- Hearing impaired
- Hoarding
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 24 years
- Licensed
- Florida, Utah
- Languages
- English