I am Melissa Garcia, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (MFT) and I can help:

Melissa Garcia is a Licensed Marriage and Family therapist and has been practicing psychotherapy since 2003. She is a graduate of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto. Through this unique approach to mental health she incorporates the whole person, including mind, body and spirit. Melissa started her career working with homeless men and women in a shelter and gained real experience working with the affects of drugs and alcohol, trauma and mental illness that influence the homeless population and are issues that cause the struggles that are common to all of us. It was in this setting that she began focusing on the importance of healing traumatic experiences.

Ms. Garcia has spent several years working with children and adolescents in a variety of settings including in the schools and in the home. She utilizes play therapy, art therapy and sand tray therapy with children to help them process and bring to surface their inner experiences. She also worked in an adolescent aversion program for first time law offenders teaching classes about drugs and alcohol, property offences and violence as well as provding therapy to the teens and their families.

Since 2006, Ms. Garcia has helped clients deal with the psychological impact of violent crimes and traumatic experiences. She utilizes compassion, understanding and acceptance to help people come to terms with difficult past experiences and how they affect their current lives. She also utilizes relaxation, meditation and visualization to help process inner struggles and learn to accept oneself. Ms Garcia believes in body memory and intelligence and taps into the body's knowledge through Integrated Process Therapy to help clients further deepen their awareness and into acceptance. Through this process she strives to help those who are struggling become the person they want to become. Melissa provides therapy in English and in Spanish.