CNY Mental Health Counseling provides individual, couples, family, and group counseling for adolescents and adults in the greater Syracuse community. Our counseling approach is both relational and solution-focused, and we draw from numerous theoretical backgrounds. We strive to create a challenging yet supportive relationship through which my clients are able to develop the courage and strength to explore and change problematic ways of being, heal current and past wounds, while also becoming empowered to reach personal potential. Dr. Melissa has over 20 years of experience counseling individuals of all ages, ranging from 4 to 85, with a wide array of presenting issues. My specialties include: Adolescence and the Adolescent-Parent Relationship, Emerging Adulthood and Identity Concerns, Eating Disorders and Eating Issues, Including Obesity, Substance Abuse, Co-Parenting Through Divorce and Helping Children Cope Through Divorce, Sexual Orientation Issues, Grief, and Coping with Injury or Illness.
In a comfortable and supportive atmosphere, We offer a highly personalized approach tailored to each of our clients individual needs to help attain the personal growth they’re striving for.
Working with Children and Adolescents
According to the American Association of Pediatrics, twenty-one percent of American children and adolescents meet the diagnostic criteria for a mental health disorder. However, due to a lack of pediatric mental health treatment providers, only one-fifth of them receive treatment. As a therapist working in the Syracuse community for the past 8 years, I am well aware of the need for pediatric and adolescent mental health resources in Central New York. Because I am not a play therapist, I rely on the children and adolescents that I see to be verbally expressive. I seek to provide comprehensive mental health services, working alongside parents, pediatricians, and school counselors in a treatment team approach.