Therapist in Westminster, California Melissa Gallardo, Therapist

Melissa Gallardo, LMFT, provides individual therapy to adults ages 18 and older who are experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, and other life challenges, including relationship difficulties, family conflict, and work-related stress. As a first-generation daughter of immigrants and a parent of an adult with special needs, Melissa has a special interest in supporting parents of children with special needs, first-generation adults, college students and professionals, and individuals from immigrant families who may be navigating cultural identity–related concerns.

As a safe and supportive container, Melissa works to ensure clients feel seen, heard, and understood. Using a psychodynamic approach, she supports clients who are feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or stuck, and goes beyond symptom management to explore the roots of their struggles. Through treatment, clients develop increased insight and awareness as they reflect on past and present experiences and the patterns that keep them feeling disconnected, discouraged, and disengaged.

In the therapy room, Melissa integrates a range of therapeutic approaches, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and mind–body–brain interventions, to provide practical skills and tools clients can apply in their daily lives to feel more confident and capable. From learning to communicate thoughts and feelings more effectively to setting healthy boundaries, Melissa guides clients in their personal growth as they reconnect with themselves, strengthen relationships with important loved ones, and reengage with life with passion, presence, and purpose.

When Melissa is not in the office, she is completing her doctoral program in Psychodynamic Child and Adult Psychology and Psychotherapy at Southern California University of Health Sciences. Outside of work and school, she enjoys spending time with her family, engaging in self-care, and finding small ways to stay balanced and present.