Melissa Hummelt, LMHC, LPC

Melissa Hummelt is a licensed mental health counselor who aims to build a trusting, down-to-earth relationship with each person she meets. She keeps sessions practical and focused, helping people make sense of painful feelings and take small, doable steps toward change. Melissa communicates warmly and without judgment to create a space where clients feel heard and understood.

Melissa holds a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and carries 15 years of experience in the mental health field. She has provided online care for many years and has worked with a wide range of concerns, including anxiety, depression, trauma and addiction. Her background includes supporting people through grief, parenting stress, career challenges, pregnancy and postpartum transitions, and issues around self-worth and intimacy.

Her main style centers on cognitive behavioral therapy, which focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and habits and then trying practical alternatives. She also draws on client-centered principles to follow the client's lead and on mindfulness skills to help people manage overwhelming emotions. Motivational interviewing and psychodynamic ideas are used when they fit a person’s goals.

Sessions tend to be collaborative and goal-oriented, with concrete tools to practice between meetings. Melissa emphasizes individualized care so therapy is tailored to what each person needs and prefers. She aims to help clients gain clarity, reduce distress, and handle life’s transitions with more confidence.

Melissa practices in California and works in English. Her listed credentials are LMHC and LPC.

How Melissa Uses Talk Therapy Online

Melissa often relies on cognitive behavioral therapy, which looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches practical skills to change patterns that cause distress. CBT can help with anxiety, depression, and unhelpful habits by breaking problems into manageable steps and testing new behaviors.

She also uses client-centered therapy, which means sessions follow the client's priorities and emphasize empathy and active listening. This approach helps people feel understood and gives them space to set the pace and goals for their work. Mindfulness therapy is another common element, offering simple practices to notice difficult emotions and reduce reactivity during stressful moments.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Melissa collaborates with each person to decide which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. She mixes tools from different approaches as appropriate rather than using a single method for everyone.

Online therapy offers flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video calls allow fuller interaction and visual cues, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera, and chat or text messaging can provide quick check-ins or ongoing support between synchronous meetings. These options help fit therapy into busy schedules and different daily routines.