Heidi Mela, LCSW

I am a NYS Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Gestalt Therapist with 10 years of experience working with diverse populations. I specialize in individual and group treatment of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem/self-worth, trauma and stress related to life transitions. I believe that you are the expert of your own life and that my role is to guide you through the process of self-discovery and healing. I pride myself on creating an environment that is safe, warm and down-to earth. I use a blended approach of EMDR and Gestalt therapy to help my clients discern and accept the wisdom of their feelings, so that they can harness them to their advantage. I believe that a person’s history colors how they experience the present, but that few are fully aware of this process in day-to-day life. We’ll work together to move from judgment to curiosity, so that we can notice what reactions are based on historical assumptions, or grounded in our actual, shared experience of one another in the here-and-now. By cultivating a value-neutral, present-oriented awareness we gain the autonomy necessary to move forward with security and purpose.