Melissa Stokes, AASW, AHPRA

Melissa Stokes offers support for people facing stress, anxiety, trauma, grief, relationship worries and issues around self‑esteem and identity, including LGBT concerns. She also helps with sleep, eating difficulties, ADHD, bipolar depression and major life changes. Her focus includes both everyday struggles and more complex responses to abandonment, dissociation and attachment wounds.

Melissa works in a straightforward and collaborative way. She listens first, then helps people build practical skills. Sessions involve talking through feelings, learning tools for emotion regulation, and finding small steps that fit day to day life. The aim is to reduce distress and increase coping and wellbeing.

Over 25 years Melissa has worked across hospitals, community mental health, youth justice, sexual assault services and both public and independent practice. She combines that experience with mentoring roles and research work on mindfulness and gendered violence assessment tools. Her background gives her a broad view of how different problems show up in people’s lives.

Her approach is integrative and person‑centred. Melissa draws on cognitive behavioural techniques, attachment‑based ideas, acceptance and commitment work and elements of dialectical behaviour approaches. Therapy is tailored to the person sitting in front of her, using psychoeducation and skills practice where helpful.

Outside work she enjoys hiking, foraging, music, board games, cooking, yoga and time with her dogs. Melissa holds credentials with the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) and is listed with AHPRA.

Therapeutic approaches used in online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them. It supports clarifying values and taking small actions that matter, which can be useful for anxiety, low mood and life transitions.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It uses practical exercises and homework to change unhelpful patterns and improve sleep, worry and mood symptoms.

Melissa uses attachment‑based ideas to understand relationship patterns and how early wounds affect current reactions. This often helps people working through abandonment, trust and communication challenges.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will work collaboratively to choose methods that suit your goals, needs and preferences. That choice can change as therapy progresses and as you learn what helps most.

Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, reduce travel time and allow more flexible scheduling. It can also support shorter check‑ins when needed or sessions without video if that helps someone engage more comfortably. Confirm the specific session options available before booking so you know which formats are offered.