About Melanie
Melanie Barefield is a licensed professional counselor and licensed marriage and family therapist based in Georgia. She combines relationship-focused work with practical skills to help people manage stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and ADHD-related challenges. Melanie writes plainly and listens first to learn what matters to each person.
Her training in marriage and family therapy shapes how she views problems. She looks at how family patterns and communication affect stress, anger, and relationship strain.
Background and approach
That perspective is used with individuals as well as when people bring concerns rooted in family of origin or blended family situations. Trauma work is a major part of her background.
She has experience supporting people who have survived abuse, post-traumatic stress, and other painful events, and she often combines trauma-informed techniques with cognitive behavioral tools to reduce symptoms and build coping skills. She also works with those facing postpartum depression, compassion fatigue, and the emotional fallout of infidelity or abandonment.
Melanie uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Attachment-Based approaches, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Trauma-Focused methods to tailor care. Sessions focus on clear goals, practical strategies, and small changes people can use between meetings. She emphasizes collaboration and helps clients choose methods that fit their needs.
Her background includes work in residential treatment centers, in-home counseling, church-based programs, and hospital settings. With eight years of clinical experience, Melanie aims to make progress feel manageable and realistic.
Therapeutic approaches adapted for online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on clarifying personal values and taking meaningful action. It helps people facing anxiety, depression, or life transitions by teaching skills to notice thoughts without getting stuck and to act toward what matters. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) breaks down unhelpful thoughts and behaviors into manageable parts and teaches practical tools to change patterns that fuel anxiety, low mood, or anger. Trauma-Focused Therapy offers techniques to process traumatic memories and build coping strategies that reduce the impact of past events on daily life.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will listen to your goals and try methods that fit your needs and preferences. Together you can adjust the plan over time, combining ACT, attachment-based ideas, CBT, or trauma-focused techniques as progress guides the choices.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to increase flexibility. Video lets you work through exercises and notice nonverbal cues. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or for shorter check-ins. Live chat and text messaging make it easier to fit brief updates into a busy day or to use written reflections between sessions. These options help people keep continuity of care while fitting therapy into school, work, or family life.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Multicultural concerns
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 8 years
- Licensed
- Georgia
- Languages
- English
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