Melissa Button, LMHC

Melissa Button is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) practicing in New York with 15 years of professional experience supporting people facing anxiety, depression, stress, addictions, low self-esteem, and compassion fatigue. She centers her work on the person rather than the problem, helping clients develop practical coping skills and tools that fit their lives and goals.

Melissa begins by building rapport and listening closely to understand what matters most to each individual. From there she collaborates with clients to identify priorities and create a plan for addressing interpersonal and internal conflicts. Her style combines client-centered care with evidence-based techniques such as Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to help clients move forward at their own pace.

Her clinical focus includes caregiver stress, chronic pain and illness, codependency, communication difficulties, substance use and recovery, guilt and shame, isolation and loneliness, midlife transitions, workplace challenges, and traumatic brain injury. Melissa approaches each person with respect for their strengths and lived experience, emphasizing that clients are the experts of their own stories and can build on existing resources to overcome life s obstacles and pursue greater well-being.

Approach-Focused Care for Online Therapy

Melissa Button draws on client-centered therapy to build a collaborative relationship that prioritizes each person s values and choices - this approach helps when clients want a respectful, strengths-based space to explore life challenges. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is used to identify and change unhelpful thought and behavior patterns; it is often helpful for anxiety, depression, and stress-related concerns. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) offers practical skills in emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness, which can support people coping with intense emotions, relationship conflicts, or addictive behaviors.

Finding the right therapeutic approach is part of the work together. Melissa helps clients explore different strategies and tailors interventions based on each person s needs, goals, and preferences in a collaborative way so treatment fits the individual rather than the other way around.

Online therapy options - including video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging - make scheduling more flexible and reduce barriers related to location or time. These remote formats allow licensed professionals to offer consistent, accessible care while adapting session styles to what works best for each client s life and comfort.