Melissa Stephens
Since joining Healing Hearts Counseling in 2021, Melissa has helped clients navigate trauma, grief, relationship difficulties, and life transitions with compassion, insight, and a holistic approach to healing.
Melissa is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with approximately fifteen years of experience in the mental health field. She has worked with both rural and inner-city populations in settings including residential psychiatric care, child welfare, dual-diagnosis treatment, and private practice.
Melissa earned her Master of Science in Education in Community Mental Health from Western Illinois University after beginning her educational journey at Spoon River College and Olivet Nazarene University. She is a Certified Clinical Trauma Therapist, a National Board Certified Counselor, and has completed certification in the treatment of ADHD.
Melissa specializes in working with individuals who have experienced relational, developmental, or childhood trauma. She helps clients process grief, navigate relationship difficulties, understand outdated coping patterns, and build healthier ways of relating to themselves and others.
Her approach is trauma-informed, holistic, and grounded in the connection between the brain, body, relationships, and healing. She is Internal Family Systems-informed and draws from trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, attachment theory, Adlerian theory, and somatic awareness.
Melissa has a special interest in complex PTSD, the neurobiology of trauma, art in counseling, holistic wellness, and the connection between mind, body, and overall well-being.
Outside of counseling, Melissa enjoys from-scratch cooking, kayaking, camping, yoga, landscaping, thrifting, watercolor, reading, winter hiking, and spiritual growth. She provides part-time telehealth counseling and also works during the day as a high school teacher.