Melanie Giarratano, LMHC, LCMHC

Melanie Giarratano is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) with four years of clinical experience based in New York. She works with concerns such as stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, relationship issues, self-esteem, trauma and abuse, ADHD, parenting challenges, and mood disorders. Melanie’s background includes both inpatient and outpatient work, including group and individual therapy settings.

She studied neuroscience at the University of Delaware and completed a master’s degree in mental health counseling at SUNY College at Old Westbury. Early research on stress and fear response shaped how she understands trauma. That experience informs her current work with people who have extensive trauma histories in inpatient psychiatric care.

Melanie describes a practical approach that draws on several methods rather than one fixed model. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people map the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. She also uses motivational interviewing to support goal-directed change and client-centered ideas when people need encouragement and listening.

Sessions often include learning about thinking errors, practicing coping skills, and using homework tools like thought logs or charts for people who want to try active strategies. She layers psychodynamic ideas when developmental and family context helps explain current patterns. This combination aims to address the immediate problem and the background that keeps it active.

Outside the clinic she keeps a steady self-care routine, which she recommends to clients. Her style is practical and hands-on, focusing on concrete steps people can take between sessions.

How Melanie blends approaches in online care