About Melissa
Dr. Melissa Chovan is a licensed counselor who brings 13 years of clinical experience to her work in Alabama. She holds LCPC and LPC credentials and focuses on helping individuals manage stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, and a wide range of life challenges.
Her approach is warm and interactive, and she aims to build a strong working relationship with each person she sees. She has worked in community mental health, prison settings, residential programs, child protective services cases, and independent practice.
Background and approach
That range gives her experience with grief, addiction, first responder issues, postpartum concerns, and complex trauma. She has also supported people with ADHD, bipolar disorder, and issues related to gender identity. Her toolbox includes cognitive behavioral methods, dialectical behavior skills, mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and client-centered ways of working.
She emphasizes practical skills people can use between sessions. She also continues to expand her trauma-focused work with additional approaches being added to her practice. Sessions are designed to feel respectful and collaborative.
She listens first, then helps people set clear goals and try steps toward change. Education about how thoughts, behaviors, and emotions connect is part of most plans. Dr.
Chovan places value on hope and empowerment. She encourages people who want to be heard and who are willing to try new strategies. Her aim is to support steady progress toward better coping and clearer direction.
Online approaches that meet you where you are
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening with empathy and helping people find their own direction. It is useful for anyone who needs a supportive space to talk through feelings and choices. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, helps people spot unhelpful thought patterns and test practical behavior changes; it is often used for anxiety, depression, and coping skills. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT, offers concrete skills for managing strong emotions and improving distress tolerance and communication.Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and what feels most useful. Then she will try methods that fit the person's needs and adjust plans based on what helps most in real life.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video is good for face-to-face conversation and teaching exercises. Phone calls can be shorter check-ins or easier when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text messaging allow brief updates or support between longer sessions. These options help people fit therapy around work, caregiving, or weekly routines.
Questions people ask
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What is her professional background?
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What this counselor works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Anger management
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 13 years
- Licensed
- Alabama, Georgia, Illinois
- Languages
- English