Dr. Melody Madaris

Dr. Melody Madaris is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with 14 years of experience. She focuses on trauma and co-occurring substance use and mood concerns. Her style is direct and practical, aiming to help people make real changes in daily life.

She has spent much of her career working with people who struggle after traumatic events and with addictions and bipolar disorder. Melody supervises a large team in community mental health and runs several programs, so she brings both clinical and administrative experience to sessions. That background means she understands how services connect across inpatient and outpatient settings.

In therapy she helps people identify the specific parts of life that need to change and makes concrete plans to begin those changes. She uses Trauma-Focused Therapy alongside approaches like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy to suit different needs. Sessions emphasize practical skills, problem solving, and increased awareness of patterns that keep problems going.

Her work includes support for grief, eating and body image concerns, anger, ADHD, compassion fatigue, and career or coaching issues. She also focuses on topics such as first responder challenges, veteran and armed forces issues, and recovery from domestic violence and other forms of abuse.

Melody offers therapy in English and accepts international clients. To start, prospective clients complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule based on availability.

How Trauma-Focused and Skill-Based Approaches Work Online

Trauma-Focused Therapy focuses on helping people process and reduce the impact of traumatic memories and reactions. It aims to identify how past events affect current behavior and build tools to manage triggers and distress.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people clarify what matters most and take committed steps toward those values. It combines acceptance of difficult feelings with practical behavior change, which can help with depression, anxiety, and substance use. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes a respectful, nonjudgmental relationship that lets the person lead the pace and topics of sessions.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will work collaboratively to decide which methods fit a person's needs, goals, and preferences, and may blend approaches as work progresses.

Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, offering flexibility for appointments and reducing travel time. Some formats are better for shorter check-ins or when bandwidth is limited, so confirm which session types are available before booking. Discuss scheduling and practical needs with the therapist to arrange a plan that works with everyday commitments.