About Melissa
Melissa Averett is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) practicing in Louisiana with 14 years of clinical experience. She combines clear guidance with a down-to-earth style so parents can understand next steps. Melissa focuses on helping people regain control after big life changes and persistent stress.
She spent four years working in a residential program supporting women in addiction recovery. She then provided nine years of outpatient counseling for adults facing a wide range of struggles and mental illness.
How Melissa works
That background gives her practical experience with both short-term crises and longer healing work. Melissa draws on Client-Centered Therapy to build rapport and help people clarify what they need from counseling. She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, including cognitive restructuring, to help change patterns of thinking that keep problems going.
Sessions often include simple, teachable skills rather than abstract theory. Common areas she addresses include anxiety, depression, grief, trauma and abuse, stress, sleep problems, parenting strain, relationship and family issues, and addiction. Melissa also focuses on concerns like self-esteem, codependency, body image, and coping after separation or divorce.
In sessions she emphasizes healthy boundaries, assertive communication, and practical coping strategies. Expect straightforward work on choices and consequences, with warmth and empathy as the guiding tone. The aim is steady progress toward goals you set together.
Melissa lists 2 ways of working on the entry:
What Melissa works with
The areas below are the ones Melissa selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Visually impaired
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LPC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 14 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Louisiana |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How her approaches translate to online therapy
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on building a strong working relationship and helping the person set their own goals. In practice this means the therapist listens actively, reflects what is said, and supports each person's priorities and pace of work.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) targets the thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going. Sessions often include identifying unhelpful thoughts, testing them, and practicing new ways of thinking and behaving to reduce anxiety, depression, and stress.
Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with the client about their goals, preferences, and what has or hasn't helped before. Together they decide which techniques to try and adjust the plan as progress is made.
Online therapy makes these approaches more accessible. Video calls allow face-to-face interaction when visual cues help, phone sessions work well for quick check-ins or when bandwidth is limited, and live chat or text messaging can support between-session work and brief updates. These options add flexibility for busy schedules and different comfort levels while keeping the focus on practical skills and steady progress.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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