We partner with our neurodiverse community to provide trauma-informed and strengths-based counseling services.
Melissa Tejada, LPC
As a therapist and as a fellow human being, I have come to know trauma. More importantly, I have seen the other side of trauma, and to experience and bear witness to this type of profound healing is awe-inspiring.
I am a trauma specialist who provides therapy for children, adolescents, and adults suffering from the impacts of traumatic experiences cluding sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, maltreatment, neglect, life threatening/life changing events, and grief or loss. I have worked in various settings including Domestic Violence Shelters and Residential Substance Abuse Facilities. While working with adults and families in these settings, I was moved by countless stories of unresolved childhood trauma, which led to the decision to invest more training and experience in treating lifespan impacts of trauma, and to working with traumatized youth.
Since 2016, I have been working with child and adolescent survivors of trauma in an outpatient setting. Via my role with traumatized youth, I have learned to place utmost value on earning a safe and trusting therapeutic alliance via attunement, unconditional positive regard, and leaning into each survivor’s uniqueness and embodied wisdom. I aim to cultivate a safe environment with cultural humility, neurodiverse flexibility, and developmentally adaptive approaches. Themes of services will likely focus on assessment, stabilization, psychoeducation, resourcing/skills building, scaffolded processing of traumatic events, or stressors with managed intensity, meaning making, hope instillation, and sustained recovery. I can tailor my approach to the unique needs of each client using various trauma-based interventions. I aspire to support any modalities and techniques with play-based interactions, wonder, and intuition. My nature is curious, playful, and improvisational, so I am at my best when working with the young or young at heart. Prior to obtaining my master’s degree, I was educated and worked in the world of theater and music, so I naturally gravitate towards creative, expressive, and experiential interventions as well.
I am licensed as a Professional Counselor with the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners, as well as a State Registered Supervisor. Additionally, I maintain certifications with EMDR, TF-CBT and am a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. I have also earned a Stewardship in Humanistic-Existential Psychotherapy and I have extensive training in Sand Tray Therapy. I offer in person services in an office setting, which accommodates a therapeutic playroom. I can also facilitate virtual services. My typical office hours are Monday through Thursday, 8am to 5pm.
“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” ~ Leonard Cohen
Ages:
Children/ Preteens / Tweens (6 to 13)
Adolescents / Teenagers (14 to 19)
Adults
p. (480) 939-5620
e. melissa@neurodiversecounseling.com
Insurance Accepted:
Blue Cross / Blue Shield
Cigna
Aetna
Optum / United Healthcare
Compsych
Location:
In-office and telehealth
Arizona State License:
LPC-16421