Melanie has been a social worker for the past 23 years in Alberta and is registered/licensee with Alberta College of Social Workers. In her capacity of a social worker, Melanie has enjoyed the counseling side of her practice more during the last 12 years of her career and has focused on working with children, adolescents and adults to heal from the wounds of : Trauma/PTSD,C-PTSD, Depression (major depressive disorder), Attachment disorder, Self-regulation, Parenting, Divorce, “and most importantly: learning to accept and love oneself.” Melanie’s vast experience and training in the healing modalities of (Reiki, Yoga and Massage) gives her an in depth understanding into how trauma, stress/anxiety/depression accumulates, gets stuck and affects the body, mind and spirit. Melanie is also a NeuroAffective Touch Certified Practitioner under the NeuroAffective Touch Institute, Santa Monica California/ Dr. Aline LaPierre Creator of NeuroAffective Touch® What is NeuroAffective Touch®? * NeuroAffective Touch® invites the mind to collaborate as an active partner while engaging the body on its own terms, at the deepest biological level. By paying attention to specific layers of the body — skin, connective tissue, muscle, nervous system, organs — and by following existing rhythms and lines of force, Melanie attunes to and assists her clients in becoming consciously present to their neuroception. This teaches the mind and body to develop a conscious, compassionate relationship. The therapeutic use of bottom-up touch and bodywork in conjunction with a top-down invitation to the cognitive self to participate helps clients understand how their thoughts, emotions, and body function collaboratively as one organism. By combining a hands-on neurobiological regulating contact, together with a caring relational presence, Melanie brings a special focus to working with childhood emotional and relational trauma. NeuroAffective Touch® (NATouch™) addresses emotional, relational, and developmental deficits that cannot be reached by verbal means alone. Neuro: Touch is a form of nonverbal communication that reaches deep into our inner personal space. Therapeutic touch not only touches the surface of the skin; it also touches thousands of sensory nerve receptors in the joints, muscles, connective tissue, and organs. These sensory receptors are nerve endings that carry information directly to the brain…hence the term “neuro.” *Affective: Touch has a strong emotional impact. During touch work, clients often said: “It’s like you’re touching my emotions.” The nervous system and emotions are deeply intertwined and cannot be separated…hence the term “affective.” The therapeutic resonance established within the therapist-client dyad offers a new relational imprint that brings hope to the work of repairing developmental breaches and attachment ruptures that underlie much of life’s suffering. Sessions help build an in-the-body, bottom-up connection to physical sensations of trust and comfort that generate new emotional and cognitive options, and foster an enriched top-down life experience.

MELANIE: “I wish that suffering didn’t exist to the degree that it does in our world today and if we can start to heal ourselves from the inside out, maybe tomorrow will look a little brighter. I offer you a safe space with compassion, non-judgement, and empathy so that we can explore together the challenges you are facing, at your pace. I will gently guide our process to finding the relief you seek by utilizing the most appropriate counseling techniques for you. I wish you love and light on your journey to becoming more of who you already are.” 🙏

Melanie has been a social worker for the past 23 years in Alberta and is registered/licensee with... Read More