Practitioner record · Checked 9 Oct 2026

Dr. Melinda Lawless Coker has been in practice 32 years and is licensed in Florida. Dr. lists stress, Anxiety, addictions and relationship issues among 72 subjects on the BetterHelp roster.

Everything below is either quoted from Dr.'s own BetterHelp listing, taken from public licensing records, or written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such. Nothing here is an availability promise, a review, or a rating.

32years in practice
72subjects listed
8approaches listed

01 · Who Dr. works with

Dr. works with stress, Anxiety, addictions and relationship issues

Dr. lists 17 specialisms and 55 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Dr. chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

Specialisms
  • Stress, Anxiety
  • Addictions
  • Relationship issues
  • Family conflicts
  • Trauma and abuse
  • LGBT
  • Grief
  • Intimacy-related issues
  • Parenting issues
  • Anger management
  • Self esteem
  • Career difficulties
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Depression
  • Coping with life changes
  • Compassion fatigue
  • ADHD
Also experienced with
  • Abandonment
  • Attachment issues
  • Avoidant personality
  • Blended family issues
  • Body image
  • Caregiver issues and stress
  • Co-morbidity
  • Codependency
  • Commitment issues
  • Communication problems
  • Control issues
  • Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
  • Dependent personality
  • Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
  • Dissociation
  • Divorce and separation
  • Domestic violence
  • Drug and alcohol addiction
  • Emptiness
  • Family of origin issues
  • Family problems
  • Fatherhood issues
  • First responder issues
  • Gender dysphoria
  • Guilt and shame
  • HIV / AIDS
  • Hospice and end-of-life counseling
  • Impulsivity
  • Isolation / loneliness
  • Jealousy
  • Life purpose
  • Men's issues
  • Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
  • Mood disorders
  • Multicultural concerns
  • Panic disorder and panic attacks
  • Personality disorders
  • Phobias
  • Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
  • Postpartum depression
  • Post-traumatic stress
  • Prejudice and discrimination
  • Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
  • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
  • Self-harm
  • Self-love
  • Sexual assault and abuse
  • Sexuality
  • Smoking / vaping cessation
  • Social anxiety and phobia
  • Somatization
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Women's issues
  • Workplace issues
  • Young adult issues

02 · In Dr.'s own words

What Dr. says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

Hi, there! I go by "M.A.," though I have other nicknames, too. I'm a licensed family therapist and a licensed psychologist; I completed my graduate education programs in Miami, FL. I work from a multigenerational family systems approach and incorporate psychodramatic (& sociometric) methods into my clinical work; these are each relational in theory, in reality/in practice, and in the healing process. I believe in establishing clear boundaries and learning what someone's emotional needs are, so that they can make healthy choices and potentially get grounded as often as necessary.

I've been a psychotherapist for more than 30 years. This has included working with many different groups of people in various settings (e.g., private psychotherapy, inpatient drug treatment, high school counseling program, county drug treatment, outpatient psychotherapy, women's prison, drug court treatment, etc.). My focus at times has been on healing past personal trauma (e.g., sexual abuse/incest, rape, domestic violence, etc.), as well as anxiety, stress, depression, and borderline personality disorder - among other daily life challenges.

I look forward to beginning my work with you and hope you'll ask me questions about anything that will facilitate a useful & relevant experience in therapy for you, personally. I hope to hear from you soon!

Dr. Melinda Lawless Coker, on the BetterHelp listing · read 9 Oct 2026

03 · How Dr. works

The 7 approaches Dr. lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Dr. lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Dr.'s - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Dr. runs a session.

Attachment-Based Therapy
Reads present-day relationship difficulty through the lens of how safety and closeness were learned early on. The therapeutic relationship itself is treated as part of the work, because it is where the pattern tends to show up first.
Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian
The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.
Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT
Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.
Dialectical Behaviour TherapyDBT
A structured skills-led adaptation of CBT built around holding two things at once: accepting yourself as you are and working to change. Teaches concrete skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation and relationships. Developed for people whose feelings arrive at overwhelming intensity, and strongest-evidenced there.
Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT
Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Works on the assumption that current patterns - in relationships, at work, in how you treat yourself - have a history, and that seeing the history loosens the pattern. Less structured than CBT, usually longer, and more interested in what comes up unbidden than in a weekly agenda.
Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed
CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.

Also listed

  • Existential Therapy

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Dr. practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Dr.'s own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

  1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

    BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Dr. at this point.

  2. Naming Dr. specifically

    BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Dr. is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Dr..

  3. If the caseload is full

    You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

  4. The first conversation

    A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

  5. If the fit is wrong

    Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Dr.

Built from what Dr. actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Dr.'s - Dr. has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

  • “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Attachment-Based Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

    Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

  • “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

    Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

  • “With 32 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

    Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

  • “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

    On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential
Psychologist
Licensed in
Florida
Licence
FL Psychologist PY7080, FL LMFT MT1504
Licence number
PY7080
Licence expires
31 May 2028
NPI
1730397225
Years in practice
32
Gender
Female
Languages
English
International clients
Accepted
Listed since
15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Dr.'s name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 9 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Dr.. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

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