Melissa Madriaga, LPC

Melissa Madriaga offers straightforward support for people feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, depression, or struggles with eating and self-esteem. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) based in Wisconsin with eight years of clinical experience. Melissa writes plainly and focuses on practical steps to make daily life feel more manageable.

Melissa uses a blend of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and client-centered work to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. She also incorporates mindfulness and narrative approaches to help people reconnect with values and personal stories. Sessions tend to be collaborative and goal-focused, with simple tools to practice between meetings.

Her background includes time in the United States Army Reserves and several years of work supporting people who experienced homelessness and incarceration. That experience informs her direct, nonjudgmental style and her attention to real-world challenges like money, housing, and life transitions.

Melissa helps people who are dealing with relationships, parenting stress, trauma and abuse, anger, addictions, and major life changes. She also offers support for concerns such as body image, blended family issues, commitment and communication problems, guilt and shame, and adjustments around pregnancy and childbirth.

Outside of work she is a single mother who enjoys hiking, biking, and exploring Wisconsin with her daughters. Her practice aims to offer relief and small, sustainable changes that fit each person’s life.

Approach and Online Options for Therapy

Melissa commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, which can be useful for anxiety, depression, and eating concerns. She also uses Client-Centered Therapy to create a supportive space where people lead the conversation and set the pace for their work.

Deciding on an approach is a shared process. Melissa discusses goals and preferences with each person and adjusts techniques based on what feels most helpful. Together they try methods and track what works so the plan fits the individual's needs.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make counseling more flexible. Video works well for in-depth conversations and visual cues, phone can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat allows brief check-ins, and text messaging can support short updates between sessions. These options help fit therapy into busy schedules and different routines.