- Years in practice
- 8
- Credentials
- LPC
- Licensed in
- Tennessee
- Languages
- English
- Focus
- Stress, Anxiety
- Focus
- Family conflicts
- Focus
- Trauma and abuse
About Melissa
Melissa Harris is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) in Tennessee with eight years of clinical experience. She focuses on helping people navigate stress, anxiety, grief, and the aftermath of trauma. Parents may find her practical approach useful when parenting feels overwhelming.
Her sessions aim to be warm and straightforward. She uses tools drawn from cognitive and behavioral methods as well as client-centered conversations. Melissa helps people learn skills for managing emotions, setting boundaries, and improving communication.
Background and approach
She pays attention to attachment patterns and how past losses affect current relationships. That often comes up with issues like abandonment, adoption and foster care, and caregiver stress. She also supports people facing chronic illness, addiction, and mood concerns such as depression and bipolar disorder.
Melissa blends short-term skills training with deeper exploration when needed. This can include work on self-esteem, intimacy-related struggles, or coping with life changes. She encourages practical steps clients can try between sessions.
Her background includes a focus on coaching-style guidance alongside therapy. Sessions often include homework, real-world strategies, and regular check-ins to measure progress. People who want candid feedback and a collaborative plan tend to do well with her way of working.
What Melissa works with
Everything Melissa lists, in the therapist's own terms. Parenting is the reason this directory exists; the rest shows what else Melissa helps people with.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
- ADHD
- Addictions
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
- Intimacy-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Parenting issues
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Bipolar disorder
- Depression
- Coping with life changes
- Coaching
- Compassion fatigue
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trichotillomania
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches Melissa lists
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Gottman Method
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Systemic Therapy
Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist names and does not check training records.
How Melissa’s Approaches Translate to Online Work
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people clarify what matters most to them and take small steps toward those values even when emotions are hard. It is useful for anxiety, stress, and when parenting choices feel conflicted. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns to reduce symptoms and improve daily functioning. It is often used for anxiety, depression, and coping skills training.Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. Melissa will discuss your goals, preferences, and what feels most helpful, then use techniques from these therapies in a way that fits your situation. That collaborative process makes it easier to try strategies and adjust them over time.
Online sessions can include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to suit different needs. Video is good for face-to-face conversation and deeper exercises, while phone can be a simpler check-in with less bandwidth. Live chat or messaging can work for short updates, homework review, or quick coping tips between sessions. These options aim to make ongoing support more flexible and easier to fit into a busy parenting schedule.
Questions people ask about Melissa
What kinds of concerns does Melissa help with?
She works with stress, anxiety, trauma and grief alongside parenting challenges. Other areas include ADHD, addictions, relationship and intimacy issues, and mood concerns like depression and bipolar.
What is her therapeutic style like?
Her style is warm, direct, and collaborative. Sessions mix skills-based work with deeper conversation to address patterns and practical needs.
How much clinical experience does she have?
Melissa has eight years of experience as a licensed professional counselor. That time includes work across mood, trauma, and caregiving related issues.
Where is she licensed and practicing?
She holds a Tennessee LPC credential and practices with clients in Tennessee.
Can sessions be conducted in other languages or internationally?
Sessions are offered in English. Melissa does accept clients located outside the United States.
What session formats are available?
She offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and needs.
How is cost handled for sessions?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
What steps do I take to begin working with her?
Click the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule sessions based on the therapist's availability.
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