About Melissa

My road toward becoming an affirmative psychoanalytic psychotherapist is influenced by a number of experiences and people earlier in my life. My Bachelor of Arts degree is in Teledramatic Arts & Technology at California State University, Monterey Bay. This degree focused on using theater and storytelling as social action. I stage managed for many theater companies on the central coast, including a summer at El Teatro Campesino founded by Luis Valdez.

My avocational political work in marriage equality and transgender rights over the past two decades has taught (and continues to teach) me how long-term collective work can create social and systemic change. Equally influential was my years of summer camp experiences that brought me into the disability community. I began working for the inclusion, acceptance, and appreciation of Autistic people in the community non-profit setting.

I decided to become a therapist after years working as a Family Support Coordinator for a community integration program for Autistic, intellectually and developmentally disabled people. In working with over 100 families across the span of my caseload, I noticed many mental health struggles were being overlooked due to Autism or other developmental disabilities.

I wanted to do more. I enrolled in the Master of Arts in Psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles. I completed my degree part time while continuing to help families to include their disabled loved one in family life, and find more connection and relationships in neighborhoods and communities. In addition to my education in Marriage and Family Therapy, I specialized in Applied Community Psychology, which focuses on prevention models, consultation, program development, and program evaluation to respond to community level traumas.

I applied the principles of Community Psychology in my agency work and expanded my community networks. As a part of my course study, I offered Natalie Dunbar consultation in developing her community offerings. I learned and implemented prevention and promotion strategies with Stepping Forward LA. As my independent study project, I supported The Affirmative Couch to begin to scale and build systems to reach more affirmative clinicians across the country. Additionally, I received training in the Community Narration Approach, an organizational evaluation tool to support institutions to align with their missions and values more deeply. This project is published in the Global Journal of Community Psychology and Practice.

I am honored to bring all these experiences to OCPP, where I offer a collaborative space for teens and young adults seeking individual and relationship therapy.  I have an active imagination and a visual mind that can help my clients make more meaning of their own.  I listen carefully to what lights my clients up, as well as the origins of stress, exhaustion, and shame.  These explorations help people who work with me feel more engaged, empowered, and passionate about  life.

In addition to my clinical work, I am the Chief Operations Officer and educator at The Affirmative Couch,  an online continuing education platform for psychotherapists working with LGBTQIA+, consensually non-monogamous, and kinky clients. I am adjunct faculty at Antioch University Los Angeles. I am an Affiliate Member of LAISPS, and a member on their Diversity Affairs Committee.