PuttingFamilyFirst

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MM Portrait of Malissa Monaghan
Online therapist

Malissa Monaghan

Compassionate, practical help for family and life challenges

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Credentials
LMHC
Experience
25 years
Licensed in
New York
Languages
English
Format
Online sessions

About Malissa

Malissa Monaghan is a licensed mental health counselor who helps people managing stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship or family concerns. She draws on 25 years of clinical experience to provide steady, practical support for parents and adults facing life changes. Sessions are grounded in respectful listening and clear, doable steps rather than long lectures or one-size-fits-all plans.

Her style is warm and direct. She encourages simple skills that can be used at home and at work.

Background and approach

Communication skills, sleep routines, coping tools for intense emotions, and strategies for navigating grief are common topics in her sessions. Malissa uses methods from cognitive behavioral therapy to identify unhelpful thinking and build better habits. She also incorporates client-centered techniques to follow each person’s priorities and solution-focused ideas to set short-term goals.

When trauma or longstanding patterns come up, she draws on trauma-focused and psychodynamic ideas to help understand what is keeping problems alive. She is practical about parenting challenges, fatherhood issues, and family problems, helping people translate therapy into daily life. Her experience includes working with mood disorders, bipolar concerns, and social anxiety, as well as autism and co-morbid conditions where needed.

Malissa practices in New York as an LMHC - Licensed Mental Health Counselor (NY LMHC 000217). Sessions are offered in English and use formats that fit busy schedules, including video and phone options.

Therapy approaches for online family and life challenges

Client-Centered Therapy places the person’s priorities front and center and involves listening carefully to what matters most. It helps people feel understood and decides goals together, which can be useful for family and parenting concerns.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on spotting unhelpful thoughts and testing them against real life. It teaches practical steps to change thinking patterns and daily routines, which is often helpful for anxiety, sleep problems, and depression.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT, offers concrete skills for managing intense emotions and improving relationships. It is useful when strong reactions or anger get in the way of daily life and close connections.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will work collaboratively to match methods to each person’s needs, goals, and preferences rather than pushing a single model. Short-term goals and practical skills are often tried first, with deeper work added when needed.

Online therapy through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging makes it easier to fit sessions into a busy week. These formats let people connect from home, continue work while traveling, or check in between appointments. The range of options supports flexible scheduling and helps keep progress moving forward when life is hectic.

Client-Centered Therapy

The direction comes from you rather than from a set programme. The therapist offers a warm, non-judgemental space to think out loud and work at your own pace. Online, this rests on the relationship rather than on being in the same room.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT looks at the link between what you think, how you feel, and what you do. You work on noticing unhelpful patterns and practising steadier responses. It suits online sessions well, because much of the work happens between appointments and can be talked through from anywhere.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Concrete skills for riding out strong emotion, tolerating distress, and handling relationships without things escalating. The skills are practised in daily life, so between-session support by message or phone fits naturally.

Frequently asked questions

What kinds of problems does she address?
She works with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and a range of family and relationship concerns, including parenting and grief.
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
Her approach is warm and practical, focusing on clear skills, better communication, and short-term goals alongside deeper work when needed.
What is her professional background?
She brings 25 years of clinical experience supporting people through mood disorders, trauma, workplace stress, and family problems.
Where is she licensed and based?
She is licensed in New York as an LMHC - NY LMHC 000217 and practices from New York.
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can people outside the United States work with her?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
What session formats are available?
Sessions can be conducted via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to suit different needs.
How are fees and getting started handled?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability and uses a subscription that can be canceled at any time. To begin, select the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to therapist availability.

Specialties and expertise

Top specialties

Also works with

Therapeutic approaches

Experience
25 years
Licensed
New York
Languages
English

Next step

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