Melissa Fox

My journey to the mental health field has been a long one. Since I was a teenager growing up with neuromuscular problems in a family not equipped to help me cope, much less thrive, I’ve wanted to help others in similar situations. 

Since beginning as a professional in the field in 2008, I have worked in medical, community and private practice settings with individuals, couples and families. Over the years, I’ve learned that most of the people I’ve worked with are trying to come to terms with some sort of unresolved past trauma, grief, or loss. Most of these people express feelings somewhere along the lines of: 

 

I can’t put my finger on it ... 

I want to move forward, but … 

I have goals and purpose, but … 

I just feel stuck… 

I just can’t get past this… 

I feel like my illness / loss / abuse defines me… 

I feel like I’ve lost myself… 

 

I understand this train of thought on a deep level. I have not only lived it myself, but have also assisted many clients on their journey through it and while doing so, have learned as a therapist that oftentimes, the goals of the client conflict with “the goals of therapy.” As a licensed therapist, and especially if clients are using insurance, my job description is to “treat a wide range of serious clinical problems including: depression, marital problems, anxiety, individual psychological problems, and child-parent problems.” Note that the words ‘treat’, ‘serious’ and ‘problems’ are all included in the job description – making the focal point problem centered (rather than solution-focused) and defined by pathology – rather than healing. 

 

At its most basic level, this gets to the main difference between coaching and therapy; while therapy is about diagnosing and treating conditions which affect a person’s ability to function, coaching is about being a guide, an active collaborator, and a person clients can relate to as they receive holistic support to break free from old patterns. Therapy clients tend to want the same thing, but are often limited by their insurance companies to working on “reducing symptoms” that must be specifically spelled out in session notes.

 

As a Coach, I can be more direct and expansive in how I approach this work. I do not have to “diagnose” or “treat” chronic mental health conditions or talk about “symptoms.”  If exploring how these conditions might be interfering with their lives is what a coaching client identifies as a personal goal in their own unique healing process, we can approach that goal in a more organic, less pathology-driven way. 

 

I also do not have to “lead the client to self-discovery” as they painfully repeat old patterns that their unresolved wounds keep them from seeing, sometimes for many years.  Instead, I can speak directly to a possible stuck area and the client gets to decide whether or not it is accurate and even how to apply it to their own healing journey. Coaching clients benefit from all my clinical training and expertise (remember Coaches cannot formally “diagnose” or “treat”), but are not limited by professional barriers from institutions about how the skills are applied, or artificial boundaries such as the state they reside in or the administrative opinions of their insurance company. 

 

My sessions are always Trauma-Informed, collaborative, and growth-oriented. I completed my first Certified Clinical Trauma Professional Intensive Training Course in 2019 and refreshed the training in 2023, adding many hours of additional training in trauma-informed care along the way. I’ve also learned that despite having a working knowledge of many different therapeutic methods and theories, what my clients respond to most is how I share that knowledge with them. I help clients see where they might be blocked, understand possible and probable reasons why they feel stuck, offer different perspectives for them to ponder, and help them decide on potential next steps in their own healing journey. 

 

I look forward to hearing from you about your own personal goals and how I can  support you along the way in your own unique healing process.