Marissa Katz Bellani

Marissa Katz Bellani is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) who helps people navigate stress, anxiety, relationship strain, grief, depression, addiction concerns, and identity issues. She practices in Hawaii and offers services in English. Her style is warm and interactive, and she aims to meet each person where they are in their recovery or growth.

Marissa uses mindfulness alongside other practical tools to calm strong emotions and build steadiness. She blends Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and cognitive behavioral techniques to help people notice unhelpful patterns and try small, workable changes. Her person-centered stance keeps conversation focused on what matters to the client, not on prepacked solutions.

Her background includes a Master of Arts and experience working with expressive arts and music therapy approaches during training. That creative foundation shows up in sessions as an openness to using different ways of exploring feelings and meaning, when it fits the person’s preferences.

Marissa has eight years of clinical experience and frames work around real-life goals like managing mood swings, coping with life transitions, repairing trust after infidelity, or reducing addictive behaviors. She also supports people dealing with chronic illness, caregiver stress, attachment questions, and struggles with self-esteem.

People who choose her can expect collaborative sessions that focus on doable steps, better emotional awareness, and clearer communication. She encourages exploring values and small experiments that build toward a steadier daily life.

How Marissa Uses Mindfulness and ACT Online

Marissa combines Mindfulness Therapy with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and a person-centered approach to help people find steadier footing in daily life. Mindfulness Therapy focuses on simple attention practices that reduce reactivity and increase awareness of thoughts and feelings, which can be useful for anxiety, stress, and mood shifts. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people clarify what matters to them and take small, values-driven steps even when emotions are difficult. A client-centered stance keeps sessions focused on the person's priorities and preferred pace rather than a fixed agenda.

Finding the right approach is treated as a joint process. She will listen to your goals and try methods together, adjusting techniques based on what feels useful. That collaborative exploration can include brief mindfulness exercises, behavioral experiments from CBT, or conversational work to better understand relationship patterns.

Confirm the available session options before booking, since formats are set by the therapist's practice. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It can also let people try different approaches without changing locations, so the practical side of therapy fits day-to-day life while the therapeutic work focuses on steady, achievable changes.