Melissa Hepburn
Compassionate integrative counsellor for stress and trauma
About Melissa
Melissa Hepburn helps people manage stress, anxiety, relationship problems, trauma and grief. She also supports people facing issues related to LGBT matters, body image, addiction, and chronic illness. Melissa is available to work online with clients in the United Kingdom and internationally.
Melissa Hepburn holds membership of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, listed as BACP. She began her career in a bereavement service, spending time alongside people and families after a death.
Background and approach
That work shaped her approach to loss and grief in later practice. She later supported people with post-traumatic stress and anxiety, and has experience around gender dysphoria. Melissa describes her practice as integrative, blending different evidence-based techniques to match what each person needs.
She aims to be approachable, non-judgemental and open-minded in sessions. The focus is usually on clear, practical steps as well as making space to talk about feelings. Sessions can involve talking through difficult memories, learning coping strategies for panic or intrusive thoughts, and working on relationship patterns.
She also helps people with shame, isolation, obsessive-compulsive behaviours, self-harm and sexual trauma concerns. Therapy with Melissa is collaborative. She works with each person to set goals and check progress.
People can choose video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text messaging for ongoing work.
What Melissa works with
Sessions & fees
Therapeutic approaches and online support
Melissa uses an integrative approach, drawing on evidence-based techniques that suit each person. One common approach focuses on stabilisation and coping skills - teaching breathing, grounding and activity plans that help reduce panic, anxiety and overwhelming emotions. This helps when symptoms need immediate practical tools.Another approach addresses trauma-related symptoms by carefully working through distressing memories and their effects, at a pace set by the person. This method aims to reduce intrusive memories, nightmares and hypervigilance and to improve day-to-day functioning.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Melissa will discuss different methods and decide together which fits the person's goals and preferences. That choice is reviewed as therapy progresses so techniques can change if needed.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat or text messaging to make therapy easier to fit into life. Video calls are useful for in-depth talking work, phone sessions can be simpler when bandwidth is limited, and chat or text can suit shorter check-ins or people who prefer writing. These options give flexibility and help people keep therapy on schedule around work and family commitments.
| Session length | Typically 50 minutes |
|---|---|
| Client ages | Adults, 18 and over |
| Fees | Subscription via BetterHelp, cancel anytime |
| Insurance | Not billed directly |
Questions people ask
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Areas of focus
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Body image
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Isolation / loneliness
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Experience
- 4 years
- Registered with
- BACP
- Languages
- English
