Registered Clinical Social Work Intern
Masters Level Clinician
Trauma-Focused CBT Trained
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Melissa Rider (she/her/hers) earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Florida and her Master of Social Work from Louisiana State University. She completed her social work internship at Pace Center for Girls where she provided trauma-informed counseling services to students ages 12 to 18, and since then has worked with children, adolescents, families, adults, college students, and couples in community mental health agencies. Prior to pursuing her social work education, Melissa worked for 10 years as a licensed hair stylist wherein she honed her active listening skills and mentored newly graduated cosmetologists.
Melissa is trained in the following therapeutic frameworks: cognitive and dialectical behavioral therapies, mindfulness, motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy, the transtheoretical model of change, and Trauma-Focused CBT. She has experience working with clients on ADHD, ASD, OCD, ODD, and RAD challenges, as well as grief, parenting, and various stage-of-life transitions. She approaches each therapeutic interaction with a person-centered, person-in-environment lens in order to provide the individualized and judgement-free counseling services every client deserves.
In her free time Melissa enjoys word games, craft projects, afternoon naps, and reading with her book group. She has a young adult son, a partner of many years, one dog, and three cats.
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License No. ISW19987 ​
Supervised by Allyson Corcoran, LMHC and Wendy Benson, LCSW