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Women’s Therapy & Counseling
Melissa Lester, LCSW
Why is Women’s Therapy and Counseling different?
Women still have to work more to earn less. Women still bear the brunt of child-rearing and housekeeping duties. Women are still subjected to unachievable beauty standards that cause us to be at war with our bodies and our Selves.
Women are still socialized to accept these disparities, limitations and life restrictions. And in some cases, we are expected to embrace and celebrate them, long after it’s clear that we are not living an authentic life.
In a world that does not make room for women, it is up to each individual woman to forge her own path. It is up to each woman to reconnect with Self. And for women, reconnecting with Self can require rejecting so many aspects of our larger culture.
Unlearn what has not been helpful. Relearn what you once knew. And do the work that will move you forward.
Because when you live your life in alignment, you also make it possible for those around you to do the same.
Being a therapist has been a clear and true calling for me since – well, always. But I did not return to graduate school to make it a reality until I was 34 years old. Then it was another 8 years (2005) before I managed to actually start my practice – part time.
Many clients, workshops, trainings and life altering events later, my practice and I have both evolved into very different things than we were way back when.
Some of these changes are hard-won in the ways that aging, deepening, and broadening happens to us – the view from a place that we never knew existed and didn’t particularly want to visit.
It feels a bit like having better tickets to the magic show each year only as you get closer to the stage you realize that the illusions worked better from farther away. And that they were only illusions.
And yet, 20 years (and a couple of lifetimes) later, I am enriched daily by this privilege I have to sit with other women (and a few men) who are making their own way in this difficult life.
It feels to me that this ‘work’ of being with my fellow humans through pain and healing – sharing my Self and my skills – is the very reason that for me, it’s all ok.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Meditation and mindfulness are powerful tools to increase awareness of the ‘right here, right now.’ And for women, I often find these approaches to be a perfect way to begin reconnecting with Self in the therapy process. The benefits of meditation and mindfulness are both immediate and long-term.
Often, as I introduce the practice of Meditation and Mindfulness in the context of women’s therapy and counseling, it is instantly grounding, calming and regulating. Other times I find that even clients who struggle with these approaches eventually do benefit just as much as those who get it ‘on the first try.’
The more we cultivate our ‘right here, right now,’ the more grounded, solid and powerful we become in our own lives.
My own meditation practice, off and on for many years, connects me more deeply with my Self. It eliminates anxiety, increases clarity and reminds me that there is a greater wisdom for us all to access.
‘Sitting with Self’ can be a radical act of self-care.
EFT Tapping
EFT Tapping (“Emotional Freedom Techniques”), or just “Tapping,” is a rapid and effective way to regulate our emotions and resolve our distress. It calms our body, clears our mind and helps us to function at our best.
Tapping is a highly researched (100+ studies) method to slow the body’s Nervous System and regulate our own emotional state.
Tapping reduces:
- Anxiety 47%
- PTSD 86%
- Cortisol 49%
- Pain 37%
- Blood Pressure 8%
- and more
It is used for emotional wellbeing, physical health and performance enhancement. It is used by wellness professionals, medical professionals, athletes and more.
And because Tapping grounds us in our bodies, it is ideal for anyone needing to reconnect with their true Self.
Read the research
Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy
Hypnosis is the intentional use of trance for a clearly defined purpose. And it was one of the first non-talk approaches I sought training in after deciding to specialize in Women’s Therapy and Counseling.
Believe it or not, the human mind is in and out of trance all day, every day. It’s a natural state that occurs automatically, and that we can also use intentionally.
All hypnosis is, in fact, ‘self-hypnosis.’ You must be voluntarily engaged in the process, and open to a hypnotic suggestion at the unconscious level, or it will have no effect on you at all.
I am trained in Hypnosis by both The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis and the Anxiety and Stress Management Institute.
On A Personal Note
My own diverse cultural, religious, and geographic background has shaped my values, my path and how I practice therapy. My personal encounters with physical illness, disability, divorce, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, loss, dying, death and grief shape who I am and inform my work. I am deeply invested in the well-being of women – women of all shapes and sizes, cultures and religions, abilities and disabilities, ages, races, sexual orientations, socioeconomic, and occupational status.
You are welcome here. And I want you to know that change is possible.