- Trauma-informed
- Strength-based
- LGBTQ allied
About Melanie
Melanie Fikse is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) in California who centers therapy on the client. She uses a client-centered approach that emphasizes listening, respect, and working at each person’s pace. Melanie aims to help people feel noticed and understood as they begin to change difficult patterns.
She brings 12 years of clinical experience working with adults on concerns such as stress, anxiety, depression, grief, bipolar disorder, addictions, and trauma. Her work also addresses relationship struggles, family problems, anger, low self-esteem, and compassion fatigue. Melanie names additional focus areas including abandonment, codependency, guilt and shame, isolation, and mood-related concerns.
Her style is collaborative and strength-based. Melanie blends practical skills with supportive conversation, teaching concrete coping tools while also attending to emotional experience. Clients can expect clear feedback and a calm, direct presence in sessions.
Melanie trained at New York University and spent many years providing therapy in a community mental health setting. She later moved to California and has practiced from a rural area that she describes as grounding and restorative. Her background includes work with underserved populations and people with significant trauma histories.
She is allied with the LGBTQ community and frames therapy as a partnership. To begin, she asks people to share their story and their goals so she can tailor sessions to what matters most to them.
How Melanie’s Approaches Translate to Online Work
Melanie integrates Client-Centered Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) into her online practice. Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening, empathy, and following the person’s lead to build trust and clarity. It helps when someone needs a steady, supportive space to sort through feelings. ACT teaches practical skills for accepting difficult thoughts and committing to values-based action, which can help with anxiety, depression, and life transitions.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Melanie will talk with each person about goals and preferences, then try methods that fit those priorities. She adapts tools over time and checks in regularly to make sure the work is helpful.
If you are considering online sessions, confirm the current session options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit work into a busy week, keep regular check-ins after a major life event, or use shorter sessions when needed. It also allows continuing care for people who moved or live far from in-person services. The practical aim is to make therapy easier to attend and to keep progress moving between sessions.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
12+ years
Listed in
California
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns does she address?
She works with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, bipolar disorder, addictions, trauma, relationship and family problems, anger, low self-esteem, and related issues like codependency and isolation.
What is her therapeutic style like?
Her approach is client-centered, collaborative, and strength-based, combining supportive listening with practical skills and clear feedback.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has 12 years of experience working with adults in community and clinical settings.
What are her credentials and where is she based?
She is an LPCC - Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor - practicing in California.
Which languages are sessions offered in?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can people outside the US work with her?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
How does billing and cost work?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions are offered through a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin therapy with her?
Click the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule based on therapist availability.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are in danger, use the crisis numbers.