About Melissa
Melissa Dobson is a licensed counselor practicing in Florida. She holds the LMHC and LPCC credentials and brings 15 years of experience to her work. She focuses on common struggles like stress, anxiety, and depression.
Melissa also addresses relationship and family concerns and helps people build self-esteem and confidence. Her style is straightforward and respectful. She listens first, then tailors conversations and plans to each person's situation.
Sessions focus on practical steps you can try between meetings.
How Melissa works
She aims to make the process manageable so small changes add up. Melissa uses evidence-informed methods to guide the work. She draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to spot unhelpful thinking and change behaviors.
Motivational Interviewing helps people find their own reasons to change. Solution-Focused Therapy keeps sessions goal-directed and action-oriented. People often come for help with communication problems, isolation or loneliness, mood difficulties, self-love, and social anxiety or phobia.
Meetings are paced around what someone needs that week. Melissa checks in about progress and adjusts plans when something isn’t working. The approach is collaborative.
Clients set priorities and Melissa offers tools, feedback, and homework when helpful. The aim is clearer thinking, steadier mood, and stronger everyday coping skills. To begin, a simple intake and matching process sets the schedule and session format.
Work can proceed by video, phone, live chat, or text messaging depending on what fits a person’s life.
Melissa lists 3 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.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
Training and background
| Registers | LMHC, LPCC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 15 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Florida |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How Melissa’s Approaches Work Online
Melissa uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify unhelpful thoughts and try small behavior changes. That method often suits anxiety, mood issues, and repetitive worry because it focuses on clear steps to change thinking and action.She also uses Motivational Interviewing to help people find their own reasons to make changes. This approach is useful when someone feels stuck or unsure about next steps because it focuses on personal goals and readiness for change.
Finding the right approach is a team effort. Melissa will talk with each person about goals and preferences, then recommend ways to proceed. Plans are adjusted over time based on what works and what doesn’t, so the process stays practical and collaborative.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and screen-sharing for worksheets. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or for a shorter check-in. Live chat and text messaging work well for quick updates, follow-up notes, or scheduling and can fit around busy days. These options offer more flexibility for fitting therapy into everyday life and for keeping momentum between sessions.
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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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