Melissa Herceg, LCSW

Licensed in California · 25 years in practice

Melissa Herceg is a licensed clinical social worker in California with 25 years of experience.

License and registration

LCSW, California: 90856 · expires August 2027
NPI: 1790335636 · national provider identifier
Years in practice: 25
Languages: English

Details are as listed on the therapist's public professional profile. You can check any license with the state board and any NPI with the national registry.

About Melissa

Melissa Herceg is a licensed clinical social worker in California with 25 years of experience. She focuses on practical help for people coping with stress, anxiety, depression, career issues, and life changes. Her work often includes support for new parents and those adjusting to major transitions.

She aims for straightforward, respectful conversations. Sessions are shaped around each person's needs and goals. Melissa listens for what matters most and then helps identify small, doable steps forward.

Background and approach

Her background includes long experience across clinical settings where she supported people with motivation, confidence, and work-related stress. She also has a focus on adoption and foster care concerns, attachment issues, and blended family challenges. This experience informs how she understands relationship and caregiving stress.

Melissa uses approaches that help people move from feeling stuck to making practical changes. She draws on methods that target goals, build motivation, and address trauma when it is relevant. That means sessions can range from focused goal work to gentler, reflective conversations about past experiences.

Her style is warm and matter-of-fact. She works in English and meets with people in California. New clients start by answering a brief matching questionnaire so sessions can be arranged around their schedules.

If someone is ready to begin, she helps map next steps and keeps the process manageable.

Focus areas and approaches

Everything Melissa lists on their public professional profile, in their own terms.

Approaches Melissa names

Naming an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist lists and does not check training records.

Online support

Therapeutic approaches that work well online

Motivational Interviewing focuses on building a person’s own reasons for change. It uses open questions and reflective listening to help someone find motivation for shifts in behavior or mindset. This approach can help with career moves, motivation, and making life changes.

Solution-Focused Therapy looks at what is already working and builds on it. Sessions concentrate on clear, short-term goals and practical steps people can try between meetings. This style is useful for stress management, self-esteem, and specific problems where small changes matter.

Trauma-Focused Therapy addresses stressful or traumatic experiences and how they affect daily life. Work in this area helps people notice patterns that come from past events and learn ways to feel safer in their reactions. It can support recovery from events that continue to cause distress.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to pick methods that match their needs, goals, and preferences. That selection can change as progress is made, and adjustments are encouraged when something does not feel like a good fit.

Online sessions by video, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation, phone sessions can be simpler when bandwidth is limited, live chat supports quick check-ins, and text messaging can keep momentum between meetings. These options offer flexibility in scheduling and in how someone prefers to communicate.

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Questions people ask

What concerns does she commonly address?

She helps people with stress, anxiety, depression, career difficulties, self-esteem, and coping with life changes. Additional focus areas include adoption and foster care, attachment issues, postpartum challenges, and social anxiety.

What is her therapeutic style like?

Her approach is practical and conversational. She aims to help people set clear goals and take small steps toward change while treating them with respect and compassion.

How much clinical experience does she have?

She brings 25 years of professional work experience supporting people with motivation, confidence, and work-related stress. That experience shapes how she plans treatment and sets goals with clients.

What credentials and location are listed?

She is a licensed clinical social worker, LCSW, licensed in California. Her practice is based in California.

Which languages are offered and are international clients accepted?

Sessions are offered in English. International clients are not currently accepted.

What session formats are available?

Sessions can be scheduled as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. This variety allows different ways to check in depending on schedule and comfort.

How is cost handled for sessions?

Cost varies with location and therapist availability. Sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.

How do I begin working with her?

Begin by selecting the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions according to therapist availability.

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