Hi, I’m Melanie!
I’m a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who is an unwavering Health at Every Size (HAES), anti-diet, celebrator of body diversity (and firm detester of BMI as a measure of health)-aligned therapist. In other words, I believe that all bodies are good, food has no morality, and your weight does not dictate your worth. You deserve to enjoy food, your body and life guilt-free, and to take up space in this world (both physically and through your voice and actions).
What lights me up as a therapist is helping individuals heal their relationships with their bodies and food, find relief from their anxiety, and supporting women throughout the spectrum of motherhood (including infertility struggles and pregnancy loss), so they can feel better and get back to enjoying themselves in school and work, in relationships, in motherhood, and most of all in their own minds and bodies.
I love working with individuals in different phases of life (college students and post-grads, millennials, women in different stages of motherhood), and teens.
While your experience is uniquely yours, I understand the emotional anguish of the restrict/binge cycle, empty promises made by diets, connecting self-worth to numbers (on the scale, on a report card, through baby’s milestones). I’ve been there, going through an emotional rollercoaster to be a mom, and struggling to adjust to my body and mind once they were here.
Because of my lived experiences, I also understand on a unique level that it’s possible to get off the hamster wheel of anxiety, self-sabotage, and people-pleasing. I believe that befriending your body just as it is and ditching rigid food rules is attainable (and SO worth it)! And I believe that you don’t have to suffer in pregnancy/ postpartum life, go through loss or infertility alone, or put yourself last as a parent.
When you work with me, you work with someone who is human, active, and down-to-earth. I will compassionately call out patterns that keep you anxious, stuck, and in pain. I will help you find and capitalize on hope, celebrate your strengths and gifts, and create a plan to help you get to the other side of your struggle, and walk alongside you the entire time.
Therapeutically, my practice is grounded in mindfulness-based, IFS (parts work), and somatic-based approaches. I also love drawing from ACT and DBT (and I can explain all of that if you’re unsure what any of that means!). I am a firm believer in the mind-body connection, in the power of self-compassion, connecting to our emotions, and the different parts of us in new and healing ways.
My background as a therapist:
I have spent 12 years working with college students, women, and teens. Before my own practice, I’ve worked in college Counseling Centers, and provided eating disorder treatment as part of a multidisciplinary treatment team at the Partial Hospitalization, Intensive Outpatient, and Outpatient levels. I've helped adolescents and adults work through eating disorders, anxiety, depression, high stress, relationship and family concerns, school/work issues, exploring their identities, and navigate times of transition.
I have received comprehensive training in treating eating disorders and Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, as well as different therapeutic modalities including: IFS (Internal Family Systems), DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), Polyvagal Theory, and TRM (Trauma Resiliency Model).
I obtained my BA in Human Development at SUNY Oswego (‘13), and my MS in Mental Health Counseling from SUNY Oswego (‘15).
I am a LMHC in New York State (License #007987).
Let’s do this together.
Please fill out the form to schedule a free 20-minute phone consultation. I will return your message within two business days. I look forward to hearing from you!
Melanie Jennings, LMHC
melanie@freedominfeeling.com
(315) 236-4970