About Melissa
Melissa Torres is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) based in Virginia with six years of clinical experience. She helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and addiction. Melissa also supports clients dealing with relationship and intimacy-related concerns, low self-esteem, career strain, and the strain of caregiving.
Her style is direct and compassionate. Sessions focus on practical steps and honest conversation. She uses simple tools so people can practice skills between sessions and notice change.
How Melissa works
Melissa blends several evidence-based methods. She uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people manage overwhelming thoughts and take values-guided actions. Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills and mindfulness practices are woven in to support emotion regulation and grounding.
She pays attention to patterns that come from family history, attachment wounds, abandonment, and codependency. Melissa also addresses issues such as substance misuse, domestic violence history, dissociation, and divorce and separation when they affect day-to-day functioning. Sessions are offered in English and Spanish to accommodate bilingual needs.
She aims to create a respectful, culturally aware space where people can tackle painful experiences and build steady coping skills. To begin, clients complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule appointments based on availability. Therapy is collaborative and paced to the person’s goals and readiness.
Melissa lists 11 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
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Register | LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 6 |
| Languages | English, Spanish |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Virginia |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Therapeutic approaches and online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on clarifying what matters to a person and taking small actions toward those values while learning to sit with difficult thoughts. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches concrete strategies to change unhelpful patterns and reduce symptoms. Mindfulness Therapy brings gentle present-moment practices into sessions to help with stress, emotional reactivity, and grounding.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will listen to each person's goals, try methods that fit those needs, and adjust based on what helps most. Clients and the therapist decide collaboratively which tools and strategies to keep using.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet. Video calls allow a full face-to-face conversation when visual cues matter. Phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is limited or a quieter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging make shorter check-ins easier and can fit into busy schedules. These options help people access regular care around work, family, or other commitments.
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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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