Melissa Brierley, LCSW

Melissa Brierley uses clear, practical approaches to help people manage stress and anxiety. She is a licensed clinical social worker, LCSW, practicing in New York with ten years of experience. Melissa speaks English and focuses on helping people who feel stuck or overwhelmed find steady steps forward.

She centers work around what each person wants to change. Sessions often include looking at unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviors so daily life feels more manageable. Melissa draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to break problems into small, addressable parts and on Trauma-Focused Therapy when past harm affects present functioning.

Her style is collaborative and straightforward. She encourages people to use their existing strengths while learning practical skills for coping, emotion regulation, and clearer communication. This can include tools for workplace stress, navigating divorce or separation, and improving self-esteem and body image.

Melissa also brings perspectives from Dialectical Behavior Therapy for emotion regulation and from psychodynamic work to understand recurring patterns. That mix helps when people face isolation, guilt, or post-traumatic stress that keeps repeating in relationships or at work.

People who choose Melissa can expect to set concrete goals and try real-world experiments between sessions. She supports clients through career transitions, major life changes, and the relief of addressing trauma symptoms, while helping them build routines that support long-term wellbeing.

Using evidence-based approaches in online care

Melissa commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify unhelpful thoughts and test new behaviors. CBT focuses on practical steps and experiments that can reduce anxiety and improve day-to-day functioning. She also uses Trauma-Focused Therapy when past events continue to affect mood and relationships, working toward gradual desensitization and improved coping for trauma-related symptoms.

Choosing the right approach is a team effort. The therapist will talk through goals, preferences, and what has or has not worked before, then try methods that fit each person's needs. Clients and the clinician adjust the plan together as progress or new issues emerge.

Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make care more flexible. Video allows face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone can fit into a work break or when bandwidth is limited, and chat or messaging supports brief check-ins or ongoing skill coaching. These options make it easier to schedule consistent work on stress, trauma, and coping skills without adding long commutes.