Therapist profile
Melanie Fikse, LPCC
California
LPCC in California - Mood and trauma concerns
Continue with MelanieWhere Melanie stands
- Credentials
- LPCC
- License
- LPCC, California / 3363
- NPI
- 1164730560
- Experience
- 12 years
- Languages
- English
- Location
- California
About
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Trauma-focused care
About Melanie
Melanie Fikse is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) in California with 12 years of experience working with adults. She works with common concerns such as stress, anxiety, depression, grief, bipolar disorder, addictions, and trauma and abuse. Melanie also lists relationship and family difficulties, compassion fatigue, and issues like codependency, abandonment, emptiness, and shame among her focus areas.
Her style is client-centered and collaborative. Sessions aim to identify practical skills and small steps that make day-to-day life more manageable. Melanie draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people notice patterns of thought and behavior and try different, more workable responses.
She brings a trauma-focused lens when past events continue to affect current reactions. That can mean slowing down, tracking triggers, and building tools to manage intense emotions. The work emphasizes learning concrete coping strategies while making choices that align with personal values.
Melanie trained at New York University and has experience in community mental health settings and rural California practice. She has worked with underserved populations and is allied with the LGBT community. Her background includes helping people who face mood disorders, impulsivity, self-harm concerns, and long-term stressors.
In sessions she balances practical interventions with an acceptance-based stance. People often explore setting boundaries, reducing people-pleasing, coping with another person's substance use or moods, and managing loneliness or isolation. To start, clients complete a short matching questionnaire and then schedule a first session.
How sessions work
How Melanie applies evidence-based approaches online
Melanie uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in her work. ACT focuses on clarifying personal values and taking steps that matter, even when uncomfortable feelings are present. It can help with anxiety, avoidance, and getting unstuck. CBT looks at patterns of thinking and behavior and teaches concrete skills to change unhelpful habits that keep stress and low mood in place.She also works from a trauma-focused perspective when past events continue to shape reactions. That approach means pacing the work, tracking triggers, and building tools to manage strong emotions and reduce reactivity. Together the approaches give a mix of practical skills and values-based goals to guide change.
Finding the right fit is part of the process. Melanie will work collaboratively to choose which methods to use based on a client's goals, needs, and preferences. Clients can expect to talk through current problems, try skill practice between sessions, and adjust the plan over time.
Session formats are not specified in the biography, so confirm current options before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into busy days, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. Licensed professionals can adapt exercises for an online setting and help clients build skills they can use in everyday life.
Areas of focus
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
12+ years
Listed in
California
Languages
English
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of problems does she help with?
She works with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, bipolar disorder, addictions, trauma and related relationship and family concerns including codependency.
What is her therapeutic approach like?
Her approach is client-centered and collaborative. She uses practical skills from CBT and ACT and a trauma-focused lens when past events affect current life.
How much experience does she have?
She has 12 years of clinical experience working with adults in community mental health and local practice settings.
Where is she licensed and based?
She is a California LPCC and practices from California.
Which languages are supported?
Sessions are offered in English.
Does she work with international clients?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
How are sessions paid for?
Cost varies with location and services use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. A license can be checked with the state board.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are not safe at home, use the crisis and helpline numbers.