Melissa Torres, LCSW

Melissa Torres is a licensed clinical social worker practicing in Virginia. She has six years of experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and addiction. Melissa offers care in both English and Spanish to meet diverse communication needs.

Her sessions focus on practical skills and clear steps. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thoughts and shift behaviors. Melissa also draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and client-centered techniques to help people build values-based goals and feel heard.

Melissa aims to create a calm, respectful space where people can talk about difficult moments. She helps clients build tools for coping with relationship strain, family issues, intimacy concerns, and career stress. She also supports those working through forgiveness, guilt, or the aftereffects of abuse.

In session she mixes skill practice with real-life application. That can include thought records, mindfulness exercises, and goal-setting. She also uses elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for emotional regulation when needed.

Her background as a Virginia LCSW informs a straightforward, empathetic style. Melissa focuses on learning what matters to each person and then planning steps that fit their life. She works with people seeking steady, practical support through major life changes.

To get started she asks prospective clients to complete a short matching questionnaire so sessions can be scheduled based on availability and fit.

How Melissa’s approaches work in online care

Melissa uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help identify patterns of thinking that increase stress or keep problems going and then practices new, more helpful ways of thinking and behaving. This approach can be useful for anxiety, depression, and everyday coping challenges.

She also uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy which helps people clarify their values and take committed steps toward them even when emotions are difficult. ACT supports coping with loss, trauma, and life transitions by focusing on what matters most to the client.

Finding the right mix of methods is part of the work. Melissa collaborates with each person to decide which approaches fit their needs, goals, and preferences. She adjusts methods over time based on what is helpful and what produces real changes in day-to-day life.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video lets people use visual cues for deeper conversation, phone sessions use less bandwidth and can be a shorter check-in, and live chat or messaging can fit into busy schedules or provide ongoing written support between sessions.