Melissa Geraci, LCSW

Melissa Geraci is a licensed clinical social worker in Arizona who helps people facing anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and addiction. She focuses on practical steps people can try right away. Conversations are direct and compassionate to help people feel understood and clearer about next steps.

She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thoughts and change patterns that keep problems going. Melissa also draws on Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills to teach emotion regulation and distress tolerance. She brings trauma-focused techniques and aspects of Jungian therapy when they fit a person’s needs.

Sessions are collaborative. Melissa works with each person to set realistic goals and small experiments to test what helps. She pays attention to communication habits and relationship patterns that affect mood and stress.

Over eight years in practice, she has supported people through substance use concerns, recovery from sexual assault and abuse, and disruptive mood symptoms like DMDD. Her approach balances skill-building with listening to personal history so change feels doable.

People describe practical takeaways after sessions, such as clearer coping plans and behavior changes to reduce isolation. Melissa aims to help clients build steady routines and better ways to handle intense emotions. Her work centers on steady progress rather than quick fixes.

How Melissa’s approaches work online

Melissa uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice thinking and behavior patterns that keep anxiety or depression going, then try small changes to shift those patterns. Dialectical Behavior Therapy is used to teach concrete skills for managing intense emotions, improving distress tolerance, and smoothing communication when feelings run high.

She treats choice of approach as a team decision. Early sessions explore concerns, goals, and preferences so she and the client can pick methods that fit. That collaboration makes it easier to adjust techniques if something isn’t helping.

Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and guided skills practice. Phone sessions can work when bandwidth is low or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging let clients check in between sessions, get brief coaching, or maintain continuity on busy days. These options make it simpler to fit therapy into a workday, school schedule, or recovery plan.