About Melissa
Melissa Laneaux is a licensed clinical social worker in Texas with 15 years of experience. She works with people facing depression, anxiety, stress, addiction, and trauma. Her approach is steady and practical, aimed at helping people manage symptoms and feel more in control of daily life.
She focuses on building usable coping skills rather than abstract ideas. Sessions are collaborative and down-to-earth. Melissa helps clients practice tools they can use between sessions to handle mood shifts, cravings, and upsetting thoughts.
Background and approach
Her work pays attention to relationships and attachment patterns. That includes intimacy-related concerns, relationship strain, and issues that come from past abuse. She also supports people dealing with body image, shame, isolation, and the emotional aftermath of sexual assault.
Melissa blends problem-solving with emotion-focused work. She uses techniques that address unhelpful thinking and that teach new ways to tolerate strong feelings. This helps with mood disorders, anger, social anxiety, and self-harm urges when they occur.
Practical matters such as substance use, bipolar symptoms, and life transitions are addressed openly. She aims to reduce distress and increase daily functioning through clear steps and regular check-ins. People who want a compassionate, skill-focused listener tend to find this approach useful.
How Melissa’s Approaches Translate to Online Therapy
Client-Centered Therapy puts the person’s goals and values first and emphasizes empathy and listening. It helps people feel heard and helps guide choices about what to focus on in sessions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) targets unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns with practical exercises and homework. CBT is useful for anxiety, depression, and disruptive thought cycles.Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the therapeutic work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to decide which methods suit their needs, goals, and preferences. That plan can change as progress is made and new issues come up.
Online therapy offers several practical benefits. Video calls let the therapist and client use visual cues and practice skills together in real time. Phone sessions are helpful when connectivity or bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text-based messaging allow short check-ins, skill practice, or reflections between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week and to keep consistent contact while working toward goals.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Mood disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 15 years
- Licensed
- Texas
- Languages
- English