About Melanie
Melanie Bannish is a licensed clinical social worker with 25 years of experience helping people navigate major life challenges. She works with concerns ranging from anxiety and stress to grief, addiction, and relationship struggles. Melanie speaks English and Spanish and draws on many years of varied practice when supporting clients.
She spent time working in South America with children who had medical needs and learned from indigenous communities and women’s programs.
Background and approach
Back in Missouri she coordinated a bilingual domestic violence program serving Spanish-speaking women and has also worked with court-referred clients, employee assistance program professionals, and people with disabilities. Melanie uses a blend of approaches to match what each person needs. She practices client-centered techniques and offers strategies from cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy when helpful.
She also incorporates elements from existential work and EMDR for people coping with trauma, and she values mindfulness and spiritual perspectives. Her style is warm and compassionate. Sessions can be held by video, phone, live chat, or text messaging according to what feels most useful.
Melanie describes therapy as a collaboration where practical tools and personal values come together to support change. People who reach out can expect clear, down-to-earth conversation and specific skills to try between sessions. She aims to help clients manage symptoms, strengthen coping, and make thoughtful steps forward in their daily lives.
Therapeutic approaches and what online work looks like
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening closely to each person's experience and building goals together; it helps when someone wants a strong supportive relationship with their therapist and guidance tailored to their values.Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) teaches practical skills to change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns and is often used for anxiety, depression, and stress management. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) adds emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and communication tools that can be useful for people who feel overwhelmed by intense emotions.
Finding the right approach is part of therapy. The therapist will discuss symptoms, goals, and preferences and then work with the person to try methods that fit. That collaborative process can include trying different skills or combining approaches as needs change.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions are useful for a face-to-face conversation when discussing complex material. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or to fit a break at work. Live chat and text messaging can be helpful for shorter check-ins, practicing skills between sessions, or when writing feels more comfortable than talking.
Questions people ask
What kinds of concerns does Melanie work with?
How would you describe the therapeutic style and approach?
How much clinical experience does the therapist have?
Where is Melanie licensed and based?
Which languages are supported for sessions?
What formats are available for therapy sessions?
How does payment and cost work?
How do I begin working together?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Depression
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Visually impaired
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Existential Therapy
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- Missouri
- Languages
- English, Spanish
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.