Melinna Perez, LMFT

Melinna Perez is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) practicing in California with ten years of clinical experience. She welcomes people who are carrying heavy stress, anxiety, grief, or confusion about identity and relationships. Melinna speaks English and Spanish and offers a range of online session formats for flexibility.

In sessions she focuses on understanding what matters to each person. She uses practical tools from cognitive behavioral therapy to identify unhelpful thoughts and test new behaviors. She also draws on acceptance and commitment therapy to help people notice what they value and take small steps toward those goals.

Her style is warm and direct. She aims to create a nonjudgmental space where people can name painful feelings and try new ways of coping. Sessions often include skill practice, gentle reflection, and clear, manageable homework to use between meetings.

Melinna has worked in both residential and outpatient settings and has run individual and group therapy. Over her career she has supported people facing depression, eating and body-image concerns, trauma and abuse, bipolar challenges, relationship strain, and parenting or family stress.

She also brings experience with attachment and adoption issues, gender dysphoria, neurodiversity such as autism, and boundaries around kink and alternative sex culture. Outside of work she enjoys music, cooking, meditation, and time with family and pets.

How CBT and ACT work online with a therapist

CBT, or cognitive behavioral therapy, helps people spot and test unhelpful thoughts and change behaviors that keep problems going. It often involves clear practice exercises and step-by-step behavior experiments that translate well to video or phone sessions.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on identifying personal values and taking committed action toward them. It teaches skills for noticing difficult feelings without getting stuck, and those exercises can be practiced during live sessions and as brief homework between contacts.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels most useful. Together they choose which techniques to try and adjust the plan over time based on what helps.

Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet. Video calls let for face-to-face conversation and skill demonstrations. Phone sessions work well when video is not possible or bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging are useful for brief check-ins, coaching-style support, or when someone prefers writing to speaking. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and to keep momentum between appointments.