Melissa Tucker

Melissa Tucker - LMHCA | Co-Director

I am excited to support clients to feel more confident in their inner world, their relationships, and in their professional lives. My passion is working with people who struggle with meeting life goals by supporting them to clarify their values and meet their desired objectives, including issues with substances.

I work from a strengths based approach-- which means that we work on strengthening the parts of your life that excite you and allow the habits, beliefs, and past experiences resolve and integrate to free up your mind to focus on a satisfying present and future. When we align our values with our behaviors we can live a truly empowered and peaceful life.

My approach is to be both comforting and challenging by offering support, validation, and reflection in a collaborative process, trusting in how we build a professional relationship as client and counselor/coach to inform building healthy relationships in your personal and professional life.

I enjoy working with young adults who struggle to form their adult identity, to support them in their path towards becoming satisfied adults. In the same vein, I work with clients who have noticed that being an adult doesn’t quite match up to their dreams, so they want to make effective changes to reach their full potential.

In addition to individual and couple’s counseling, I love to work with groups and teach skills class to help people explore their personal journey to create a meaningful life, which is particularly enjoyable in a group setting.

I use creativity and expressiveness to work with clients who are great “thinkers” and want to become better “feelers”, more comfortable, with their emotional states. This would include anxiety, anger, feeling numb or “down”, confused during life transitions, or ambivalence about the future.

My experience with RO-DBT, expressive arts therapy, parenting, and trauma informed care provide the structure to collaboratively develop a unique and holistic plan for each client.

Having worked with clients in crisis and mandated services allows me to remain steady and supportive during the most difficult parts of counseling as I support clients to “paint a picture” of their ideal life and take steps toward reaching it.

Personel Information

E-mail : info@momi.health

Toll Free : 1-855-455-4454

Text Message : 206-649-9959

Therapeutic Work

I graduated with a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from University of Hawaii Hilo. Starting in 2014, I worked as a crisis mobile responder for youth assessing suicidal intent, mental health concerns and provided referrals, including hospitalization. Concurrently, I worked for a private substance abuse clinic as an intern, while completing a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor certification, and as the Clinical Supervisor and program development. Living in Hawaii for 10 years helped me to begin to understand the experiences of those who are bicultural, immigrants, and multiracial. I do my best to honor and reflect the individual experiences of each of my clients with the intention of allowing them to heal themselves.

I completed Levels I and II of EMDR training, with world renowned trainers, and was an active member of a play therapy supervision group for over 3 years. I studied substance abuse treatment in Hawaii for 5 years and in Brazil for 7 months. I returned to Hawaii to work as the clinical supervisor of a parenting organization providing counseling to families in the foster care system to help prevent/reunify families, through counseling and parenting education.

After moving to Washington in 2019, I began providing private counseling, coaching and training.

I am trained in Person-Centered, Motivational Interviewing, RO-DBT, CBT/TF-CBT for adults and youth, ACT, REBT, DBT, EMDR (working on certification), Behavioral Activation, expressive arts therapy, mindfulness, and parenting education.

In my free time I love to travel, hike, and have several hobbies such as dancing, drumming, playing ukulele, singing, and being crafty. I lived all over the United States and traveled to several countries. My experiences immersing myself in other cultures helped me reflect on my own personal growth and develop a profound curiosity and empathy. I am an avid reader of both fiction and nonfiction, studying history, economics, and philosophy. I also enjoy learning languages such as Portuguese, Spanish and Korean. I am passionate about life and enjoy experiencing new things, which always improves the quality of my life.

Overview

  • Radically Open Dialectical Behavioral Therapy certified 2022
  • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy certified 2021
  • Aegis Non-physical De-Escalation 2021
  • Motivational Interviewing Skill Building Series 2021
  • Clinical Supervision Training 2021
  • Supervisor Training 5-Part series 2021
  • Overcoming Trauma-Related Shame and Self-Loathing 2020
  • Trauma Defined: Bessel Van der Kolk 2020
  • Mental Health First Aid Adult 2020
  • Certified Compassion Fatigue 2020
  • Intermediate Motivational Interviewing online 2020
  • Basic Mediation Training (Peninsula Dispute Resolution Center), Sequim, WA 2019
  • Hawaii Employers Council Management Training 2018
  • Motivational Interviewing Hilo, HI 2012; Federal Way, WA & Honolulu, HI 2018
  • Responsive Management Leadership Training 2018
  • Expressive Arts and Play Therapy Techniques Kamuela, HI 2014-2019
  • Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Honolulu, HI 2018
  • EMDR Level II with Dr. Roger Solomon Pahoa, HI 2016
  • Introduction to Attachment-Centered and Play Therapy Kamuela, HI 2016
  • Healing Complex Trauma through Play Therapy Kamuela, HI 2016
  • Trauma Informed Care Practices Kapiolani & Kamuela, HI 2015
  • Risking Connection/RICH Hilo, HI 2015
  • Spirituality and Recovery Kapiolani, HI 2015
  • Play Therapy for Groups Honolulu, HI 2015
  • Impact of Conflicted Divorce on Child Development Kamuela, HI 2014
  • EMDR Level 1 with Dr. Roger Solomon Pahoa, HI 2015
  • EMDR Level 1 with Kathleen Martin Hilo, HI 2014
  • Treating Complex Trauma with Structural Dissociation Theory Hilo, HI 2014

Education Certification

  • University of Hawaii Hilo Hilo, HI 08/12-08/15 Masters of Counseling Psychology.
  • Thesis title: Review of Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management Programs in Hawaii and Mental Health.
  • Oregon College of Art and Craft Portland, OR 08/06-05/10 Bachelor of Fine Arts.
  • Thesis title: Let’s Do This Again Sometime.

Professional Training

  • Radically Open Dialectical Behavioral Therapy certified 2022
  • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy certified 2021
  • Aegis Non-physical De-Escalation 2021
  • Motivational Interviewing Skill Building Series 2021
  • Clinical Supervision Training 2021
  • Supervisor Training 5-Part series 2021
  • Overcoming Trauma-Related Shame and Self-Loathing 2020
  • Trauma Defined: Bessel Van der Kolk 2020
  • Mental Health First Aid Adult 2020
  • Certified Compassion Fatigue 2020
  • Intermediate Motivational Interviewing online 2020
  • Basic Mediation Training (Peninsula Dispute Resolution Center), Sequim, WA 2019
  • Hawaii Employers Council Management Training 2018
  • Motivational Interviewing Hilo, HI 2012; Federal Way, WA & Honolulu, HI 2018
  • Responsive Management Leadership Training 2018
  • Expressive Arts and Play Therapy Techniques Kamuela, HI 2014-2019
  • Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Honolulu, HI 2018
  • EMDR Level II with Dr. Roger Solomon Pahoa, HI 2016
  • Introduction to Attachment-Centered and Play Therapy Kamuela, HI 2016
  • Healing Complex Trauma through Play Therapy Kamuela, HI 2016
  • Trauma Informed Care Practices Kapiolani & Kamuela, HI 2015
  • Risking Connection/RICH Hilo, HI 2015
  • Spirituality and Recovery Kapiolani, HI 2015
  • Play Therapy for Groups Honolulu, HI 2015
  • Impact of Conflicted Divorce on Child Development Kamuela, HI 2014
  • EMDR Level 1 with Dr. Roger Solomon Pahoa, HI 2015
  • EMDR Level 1 with Kathleen Martin Hilo, HI 2014
  • Treating Complex Trauma with Structural Dissociation Theory Hilo, HI 2014
  • Licensure: Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate in WA (LMHCA 61179780)
  • Languages: Provides services in English and understands Portuguese and Spanish.
Mind Over Matters Institute Seattle, Washington
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