About Melissa
Melissa Brierley is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) based in New York. She draws on ten years of experience to help people manage stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, and struggles with self-esteem and career challenges. Melissa emphasizes practical steps and steady support when life feels overwhelming.
She treats each person as the expert on their own story and looks for strengths to build on. Sessions focus on clear goals, skill building, and understanding patterns that keep problems stuck.
How Melissa works
Melissa uses talk work and structured techniques to help people feel more confident and capable. Her background includes helping people cope with major life changes and workplace issues. She also supports those dealing with body image, communication problems, divorce and separation, and feelings of guilt or isolation.
Post-traumatic stress and women’s issues are among the areas she addresses. Melissa blends several approaches to suit individual needs. She may use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to change unhelpful thinking, Dialectical Behavior Therapy to teach emotion regulation and coping skills, or Trauma-Focused Therapy to process difficult experiences.
Psychodynamic ideas help uncover long-standing patterns when useful. Throughout the work she aims to provide a calm, encouraging space for steady progress. Sessions emphasize concrete tools, homework when helpful, and honest conversation about what’s working.
Melissa supports people as they try new ways of handling old problems and make changes that stick.
Melissa lists 4 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
Training and background
| Register | LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 10 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | New York |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Therapeutic approaches suited to online care
Melissa often uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thoughts and habits and replace them with more effective responses. CBT can help with anxiety, stress, self-esteem, and workplace difficulties by focusing on practical steps and clear exercises in sessions.She also draws on Trauma-Focused Therapy to help people process and make sense of painful events. That approach emphasizes safety, pacing, and techniques to reduce trauma symptoms while building coping skills.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Melissa will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit their goals, needs, and preferences. She checks in regularly and adjusts methods when something is not helpful so therapy stays relevant and manageable.
Online formats make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation for skills practice and deeper dialogue. Phone sessions and live chat can be used when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed, and text-based messaging supports quick reflections or prompts between sessions. These options give flexibility for different days and different needs while keeping the work focused on progress and practical tools.
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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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