Melissa is the founder and owner of Inner Wisdom Therapy. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Pennsylvania and a Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist (BC-DMT) with experience in providing individual and group therapy to adults. She graduated from Drexel University with a Masters in Dance/Movement Therapy and from Bradford College with a Bachelors degree in Psychology. Melissa has training in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing). She received certification as a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist through the Beck Initiative. She has her 200-hour level professional training as a Yoga Teacher additionally.

 

Melissa has worked with individuals who have experienced trauma, both professionally and in a volunteering capacity. For five years she worked for Comhar in a community mental health setting and prior to that, in an adult residential home where she worked primarily with adults with Schizophrenia. She has also worked with adult men in recovery from substance use at Girard Medical Center in Philadelphia. She co-led Peer Recovery Support Groups at Norristown State Hospital.

 

She had the privilege and honor of volunteering at the Coatesville VA where she offered a once a week Trauma Informed Yoga Class to veterans who have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She also interviewed female veterans about their transition experience back to civilian life for her Master’s Thesis. On a personal note, Melissa’s stepfather served in the 82nd Airborne in the insurgency in Central America and he is one of her main inspirations for working with veterans, and for overall working with individuals who have experienced trauma and personal loss.

 

Melissa also provides professional trainings on the following topics: trauma, Dance/Movement Therapy, self-care and stress relief, and mindfulness practices.