Melissa Strauss, LPC

Melissa Strauss is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with 13 years of experience. She helps people manage stress, anxiety, depression, relationship and intimacy concerns, and grief. She also supports clients facing parenting strain, eating and sleep problems, ADHD, and questions about sexual and gender identity.

Her style is warm and down-to-earth. Sessions focus on what matters most to the person in front of her. Melissa looks for strengths clients already have and uses those as starting points for change. She keeps sessions collaborative so people feel some control over the work and the pace.

Melissa draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to address thoughts, behaviors, and values. She also uses attachment-based ideas and emotionally-focused techniques when relationships and connection are central concerns. These methods are mixed to fit each person’s goals rather than applied the same way to everyone.

In practical terms, Melissa helps people build skills for coping with strong emotions, improving communication, and changing patterns that cause pain. She works with issues such as blended family stress, body image and eating-related concerns, caregiving burden, and career or life-purpose questions. Her approach balances short-term problem solving with attention to deeper relationship patterns.

Based in Pennsylvania, Melissa conducts sessions in English and accepts international clients. Her work aims to be straightforward and useful, with an emphasis on making real changes that fit daily life.

How therapy approaches translate to online care

CBT focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. In online sessions this often means setting clear goals, trying small behavior experiments between sessions, and tracking progress together. ACT helps people clarify their values and take committed steps toward them while learning to live with uncomfortable thoughts and feelings. That work can include brief experiential exercises and home practice assigned during online sessions. Attachment-based work looks at how early connection patterns shape current relationships and communication. In video or messaging sessions this often involves noticing interaction patterns and practicing new ways of relating.

Choosing the right approach is part of the process. Melissa will work collaboratively to figure out what fits a person's goals and preferences, and she adapts methods if something isn't working. The aim is to match practical tools to the issues someone brings, whether that is mood, relationship repair, or behavior change.

Online therapy offers flexibility that can make consistent work easier. Video calls let people read facial cues and do deeper conversational work. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can be easier during a break at work. Live chat or text-based messaging can provide shorter check-ins, help maintain momentum between longer sessions, and suit people who prefer writing. These options help people fit therapy into busy lives while working with licensed professionals.