Meet Melissa - My Story
As a child, I was a chameleon changing myself to please others so I wouldn’t disappoint or upset anyone around me. I rode the wave of emotions in the house by escaping into my head or a book. Most of my life, I lived in what felt like chaos, anxiety, and fear at the whim of emotions. The survival strategies I learned in the dysfunctional environment of my childhood carried over into my adult life. I looked to others for validation as to me who I was, how I was feeling, and how I was performing, which was problematic because everyones version of you is different. It was exhausting! Needless to say, I have a colorful background filled with many challenging experiences that I have worked hard to heal, forgive, release, and overcome.
I started my professional career as a high school teacher. However, I was quickly drawn to the field of counseling because my student naturally opened up and shared their problems with me. Remembering how much a few of my teachers influenced me, I wanted to pay it forward and help my students on a deeper more impactful level. I believe in the power of counseling because it helped me understand myself and heal the traumas I experienced. That is why I am dedicated to sharing what I learn with others in hopes that their journey will be just a bit easier.
Alternative therapy came into my awareness 10 years ago through a medical professional. I tried it for the constant pain in my back and found relief. Since then, I have been fascinated by how trauma is stored in the body. I have studied energy healing, emotion coding, body scanning, chakras and meditation. The combination of energy therapy and counseling is beneficial in managing stress, and healing physical manifestations of trauma, emotions (i.e. fear, anxiety, and anger), as well as mental well-being (i.e. self-worth, confidence, and empowerment).
My Healing Journey
It was in my 7th grade Health class that I realized that my father was an alcoholic. I felt powerless to do anything about it, other than be a people-pleaser and not draw attention to myself. I met with a counselor for the first time while I was in college where I discovered that my family was dysfunctional. It was such a relief to know that it wasn’t all my fault! When you don’t know anything different, you think your experience is “normal.”
Eight years ago, I reached a point where anxiety and fear were resurfacing from my childhood (CPTSD) and were impacting the quality of my adult life. I discovered alternative Reiki energy therapy, not only moves the energy in the body, but it also worked on emotions. The physical experience of fear and anxiety in the body decreased after the Reiki treatment and left me with a sense of peace and balance. Fascinated by the fact that emotions are energy in motion, I have researched other methods of releasing emotions such as EFT and emotion coding.
In my experience, traditional counseling talk therapy heals the mind. However, the body remembers the energy signature of emotions that were not completely processed at the time of the trauma. Energy treatment helps to move the energy around the emotion, thus allowing the mind to look at it differently. When counseling is combined with an energy treatment, the trauma is addressed on two levels (the mind and the body), which provides more complete and lasting healing.
My Path to Illumination
I have always felt as though I was different! I didn’t know exactly how, but I was told many times that I was “too sensitive.” A few years ago, my healing journey leveled up into illumination when I met a colleague who exuded calmness. One day he shared that as a child he saw orbs of light, which piqued my interest because my oldest grandchild was closing doors to keep orbs out. I began to do research to understand my own unique gift of high sensitivity and to support my grandchild. The more I learned about empath, highly sensitive, and neurodivergent characteristics, the more I resonated with these aspects.
Highly sensitive and neurodivergent people can have more acute awareness in multiple senses (sight, sound, touch, hearing, smell, emotions), which results in their brain processing information differently. As I learned strategies to manage my high sensitivity, I not only found the centeredness and peacefulness I craved, but I started attracting students who were struggling with similar issues. We are in an age where there are more and more people noticing that they don’t fit into society’s boxes. We experience the world differently.
My passion is helping people to understand themselves as well as view and use their unique gifts not as limitations, but as super powers!
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
Master of Science in Counseling
School Counselor with 29 years of experience
Certified Reiki Energy Healer
Doctorate in Interdisciplinary Leadership
Bachelor of Science in Education - (Endorsements: Business & Math)
Educator 33 years public high school experience
Master of Science in Educational Leadership