Melissa McDonald Wertz

Melissa McDonald Wertz is a licensed clinical social worker with over 10 years of experience. She works with people facing stress, anxiety, addiction, trauma, depression, grief, and relationship concerns. She also supports those coping with career strain, parenting challenges, sleep and eating problems, and compassion fatigue.

Her approach is warm and interactive. She focuses on building a trusting relationship where people feel safe to share what matters to them. Sessions are practical and aim to develop useful tools and clearer insight rather than only talking about problems.

Melissa uses a mix of approaches to match each person’s needs, including mindfulness practices and cognitive behavioral strategies. She also draws on motivational interviewing and solution-focused ideas to set achievable goals and keep progress moving. Trauma-focused methods are part of her work when trauma is central to someone’s struggles.

She emphasizes collaboration and tailors techniques to what a person prefers and finds helpful. This means sessions often combine short-term goal work with skills training and moments to slow down and notice thoughts and feelings. Her style is straightforward and compassionate, aimed at helping people take practical steps forward.

Melissa practices in Colorado as an LCSW and CSW. She has experience as both a therapist and a case manager, which informs a practical, real-world approach to getting through hard moments and planning next steps.

How Melissa Uses Mindfulness and Practical Therapies Online

Melissa often blends mindfulness practices with cognitive behavioral work to help people manage anxious thoughts and low mood. Mindfulness Therapy involves simple attention exercises and noticing patterns in thoughts and feelings, which can reduce reactivity. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and testing new behaviors to change mood and daily habits.

She also uses motivational interviewing to help people find their own reasons for change and commit to small steps. That approach is useful for addictions, process behaviors, and times when motivation feels stuck. Together these methods support both short-term goals and longer emotional processing in a collaborative way.

Finding the right mix of methods is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about their goals, preferences, and what feels most helpful. Sessions are a collaboration where methods are adjusted over time based on progress and feedback.

Specific session formats are not listed here, so confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, allow for shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce travel time. It can also make it simpler to practice skills between sessions and bring real-life examples into appointments.