01 · Who Melissa works with

Melissa works with stress, Anxiety, grief and anger management

Melissa lists 12 specialisms and 35 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Melissa chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Melissa's own words

What Melissa says about the work

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

Hello!

Welcome to BetterHelp! I'm so proud of you for deciding to take care of yourself and joining me at BetterHelp! I look forward to getting to know you. I understand that you’re nervous --that’s common and to be expected! Taking the first step is always the hardest in anything we pursue in life- I am here to give you the support, encouragement and empowerment to take control of your life! You can rest assured that you have found a safe and supportive environment here at Better Help.

We will start out by getting to know each other more and how I can help. I'm always open to your feedback about how it's going and what you need. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in the states of South Carolina, West Virginia and Maine with over 17 years of behavioral health experience working with individuals and families in multiple settings including community mental health, emergency room, private practice and telehealth. Throughout my career, I have worked with symptoms including but not limited to depression, anxiety, stress management, anger management and relationship issues among others. In working with patients, I refer to Person-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness and Solution-Focused Therapy.

I check messages 2-3 times per day, Monday-Thursday up until 4:00. I am unable to see patients from 12:00-1:00 during the week and do not see patients after 5:00 pm due to outside obligations. Saturdays and Sundays are my days off, as well as holidays. I am based out of South Carolina and therefore am on EST. To avoid double bookings with appointments, it’s best for me to schedule appointments. I am available for appointments Monday-Thursday from 9:00 am-5:00 pm. Please let me know what your needs are with availability, and I will do my best to accommodate your needs.

With this said, I would like to establish a few general guidelines: counseling can be empowering but it also requires a commitment to change- please be patient as symptoms and issues are processed and explored and understand that it takes time to gain strength. Most presenting symptoms are deep rooted and require more than a few short correspondences to fully resolve. Also, please be mindful that this is a paid subscription so it is to your advantage to actively participate in treatment and keep the lines of communication open. Please take note that after two no shows or same day appointment cancellations, I will recommend that you switch to another provider. My time is just as valuable as yours and appointment no shows and cancellations result in financial loss. I also ask that you please understand that not all cases are appropriate for online counseling and some are better suited for an office setting. I do not accept any cases with substance abuse or addiction of any kind as a chief complaint.

Please remember you have access to the room 24/7 and may write as much as you want, anytime. Longer posts from you typically take me a few days to process and fully respond to.

Also, few logistics as we start - here's information about:

1) the informed consent 2) confidentiality 3) safety

I want to be sure to go over informed consent and mandated reporting and some other important information. Your emergency contact information is secure and I am bound by confidentiality, which means everything you tell me stays in this room with the following exceptions, as I am a mandated reporter: (1) if you are suicidal/homicidal, (2) abuse/neglect to a child, elderly or disabled person, (3) if I am subpoenaed by a court. Informed consent means you are consenting to therapy services with me and understand all of your rights, as explained in the informed consent document you sign. You will receive a request to complete your emergency contact information which must be completed before we start working together. The information will never be used if you become silent, but only in a true emergency, as I am always going to do my best to ensure your safety.

Speaking of safety, as we work together I want to let you know that BetterHelp is not a crisis center. Please make note of the emergency procedures and resources listed below should a crisis arise during my time off or when I am offline. Even though there is an option to mark messages as urgent please do not use that for crisis situations. Marking a message as urgent does not ensure I will see it or respond quicker.

Urgent/Emergent Resources: You can go to your local emergency room, call 911, or call 1-833-929-1721

www.hopeline.com to access a database of suicide crisis hotlines or dial 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433) from your area and you will be immediately connected with a trained crisis counselor.

Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 for crisis support.

Please take note of the following additional resources for urgent/emergent crisis situations:

FOR SOUTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS: South Carolina Mobile Crisis: 1-833-364-2274 South Carolina NAMI: 1-800-950-6264 Crisis Text Line: 741741 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

FOR WEST VIRGINIA RESIDENTS: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 Crisis Text Line: 741741. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness): (304) 445-7866

Call or text 844-HELP4WV (844-435-7498). HELP4WV offers a 24/7 call, chat and text line that provides immediate help for any West Virginian struggling with an addiction or mental health issue.

Help304 - West Virginia's Emotional Strength Line: Call 1-877-HELP304, text 877-435-7304 or chat (www.help304.com). HELP304 Provides social, emotional, and supportive counseling via call, text, and chat. National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

FOR MAINE RESIDENTS: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 Maine Crisis Line: 1-888-568-1112 Nami Maine: 1-800-464-5767 (Press 1) The Intentional Peer Support Warm Line: 1-866-771-WARM (9276) or 711 (Maine Relay). The Intentional Peer Support Warm Line is available toll-free from anywhere in Maine, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is a mental health peer-to-peer phone support program offering mutual conversations with a trained specialist who has life experience with mental health and/or substance use issues and recovery.

Domestic Violence Helpline: 1-866-834-HELP (4357) Sexual Assault Helpline: 1-800-871-7741 (Voice) or 711 (Maine Relay)

Crisis Text Line at 741741 National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

Please let me know if you have any current/past safety concerns. We will continue to discuss this as we get to know one another.

Have a great day - I'll be back to check in and will talk to you more soon!

Melissa Dawicki, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Nov 2026

03 · How Melissa works

The 8 approaches Melissa lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Melissa lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Melissa'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 Melissa runs a session.

Acceptance and Commitment TherapyACT

Rather than trying to argue a painful thought away, ACT works on loosening its grip and getting on with what matters to you anyway. Sessions spend real time naming your values, then building action around them while difficult feelings are still present.

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.

Emotionally Focused TherapyEFT

Built for couples and rooted in attachment: the recurring argument is treated as a cycle two people are stuck in rather than as one person's fault. Sessions work to interrupt the cycle and get to what each person is actually asking for underneath it.

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.

Motivational InterviewingMI

A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.

Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT

Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.

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.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Melissa 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 Melissa'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 Melissa at this point.

2. Naming Melissa specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Melissa 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 Melissa.

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 Melissa

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

• “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Client-Centred 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 17 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

LCPC

Licensed in

South Carolina

Licence

ME LCPC CC6602, SC LPC 5805

Licence number

5805

Licence expires

31 Aug 2027

NPI

1164552121

Years in practice

17

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Not accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Melissa'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 7 Nov 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 Melissa. 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.

Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.