Melissa Lehrich
Calm, practical support for family and parenting challenges
- Credentials
- LCSW
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed in
- California
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Melissa
Melissa Lehrich is a licensed clinical social worker who draws on 25 years of practice to help people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and relationship concerns. She uses straightforward conversation and focused techniques to address issues like sleep problems, anger, intimacy struggles, and parenting challenges.
Melissa aims to create a respectful, sensitive space where a parent or partner can talk through what feels most urgent right now. Her approach is practical and tailored.
Background and approach
She mixes methods such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and EMDR to suit each person’s needs. Sessions often focus on concrete skills for coping, clearer communication, and step-by-step plans for change. Melissa has worked with many people coping with trauma, grief, life transitions, and work stress.
She also addresses areas like self-esteem, guilt and shame, social anxiety, panic attacks, and finding life purpose. Her experience includes counseling around end-of-life and hospice issues when those concerns arise. Therapy with her tends to be collaborative.
She listens first, then suggests tools and strategies that match the situation. Progress is paced to what the client can manage, with attention to emotional safety and practical outcomes. Sessions are offered from California and are conducted in English.
Melissa accepts international clients and uses a flexible session model to accommodate different schedules and needs.
Evidence-based approaches for online family and parenting support
Melissa uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. CBT is often used for anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and stress because it focuses on practical exercises and small behavior changes.She also uses Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, known as EMDR, for people who have relief from traumatic memories and post-traumatic stress. EMDR works by guiding attention while recalling traumatic events to reduce their emotional intensity over time.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Melissa listens to each person’s goals, tries methods that fit the situation, and adjusts the plan as needed. She discusses options and works together with clients to choose what feels most useful for their family or parenting concerns.
Online therapy offers flexibility for busy families and people in different locations. Video calls let therapists observe interactions and tone while phone sessions can be a simpler option. Live chat and text-based messaging are available for brief check-ins or when writing feels easier. These formats help people fit therapy into work, school, and caregiving responsibilities while keeping treatment continuous and accessible.
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.
EMDR
A structured protocol used with distressing memories, pairing recall with guided attention tasks. Some therapists adapt it for video sessions; whether that fits is worth asking about directly.
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does Melissa commonly address?
What is her therapeutic style like?
How much clinical experience does she have?
What are her credentials and where is she based?
Which languages and client locations are supported?
In what formats are sessions offered?
How are fees structured?
What are the first steps to begin therapy?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Anger management
- Career difficulties
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Melissa
- Takes a few minutes to look through
- Nothing to set up just to read
- Stop at any point