Melinda Holliday, LMSW, CAADC

ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS

Most of the people I see have been managing for a long time, and the effort it takes keeps growing. Often that looks like anxiety, depression, grief, trauma and PTSD, or drinking that has started to feel concerning. Just as often it is harder to name: trouble sleeping, a shorter temper than before, strain in close relationships, or a demanding job that costs more than it used to. You do not need the right words for it before we meet.

Therapy with me is active and practical. We build a plan together, check it against how your week is actually going, and change it when something is not helping. Depending on what you need, that can include EMDR, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and somatic tools. Some of the tools help address our thinking, and others work on the body, because long-term stress affects both.

I have worked in behavioral health for seventeen years, and I hold a Master of Social Work from Western Michigan University. Much of that time was spent in psychiatric hospitals, crisis response, and addiction treatment, which means I have worked with people on the worst days of their lives, and it takes a great deal to unsettle me. Whatever you have been holding back, big or small, you can say it here. Part of my career has been spent working alongside law enforcement as a co-responder, and I work with first responders, medical professionals, veterans, and people whose jobs and day-to-day demands ask a lot of them. If your work is the kind that follows you home, you will not have to start from scratch explaining it.