Melissa Colton, LMHC

Melissa Colton is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) with 27 years of experience working with individuals facing a wide range of emotional and life challenges. She draws on an integrative, client-centered approach that blends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), mindfulness practices, solution-focused techniques, and existential perspectives to help people build resilience and find direction.

Working from a holistic view that honors body, mind, heart, and spirit, she emphasizes the therapeutic relationship as the foundation for meaningful change. Melissa believes that a strong connection between therapist and client creates the conditions for growth, and she supports people through transitions until the pain of staying the same is outweighed by the possibility of change.

Her practice addresses a broad spectrum of concerns including stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, bipolar disorder, addictions, grief, relationship and family issues, intimacy and parenting challenges, self-esteem and shame, career and life-purpose questions, and coping with life changes. She also works with those experiencing ADHD, social anxiety, compassion fatigue, and mood disorders, offering skills-based and insight-oriented interventions tailored to each person.

Melissa encourages clients to recognize the strengths that emerge from difficult experiences and to use those lessons as fuel for reinvention. She often references Carl Jung's phrase, "You are not what happened to you, you are what you choose to become," and guides people toward discovering their own answers and possibilities as they pursue lasting, practical change.