Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Tully.
Hi Melissa, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I have always had an interest in people and their narratives, what makes them “click”. I’ve always been curious to know how they got to be who they are. This heart for people became a heart for service in high school. I volunteered in several different charities, among them an emergency helpline for teenagers. I was also voted into the Natural Helpers Club, a place dedicated to training students with certain inclinations to spot signs of elevated distress and share available resources for fellow students. As a result, I feel like therapeutic work was always going to be in my path.
More recently, in my adult life, we needed support when family members were diagnosed with different conditions that deeply affected their well-being, their ability to function, and the relationships within the family unit. I believe that therapy was key to keeping my family well for many years and it continues to be resource that we all use.
After experiencing how receiving the right mental health treatment at the right time is so important, I got my graduate degree in counseling from Virginia Tech. I’m a proud Hokie and a proud counselor.
I truly believe that we need to change the conversation regarding mental health. We need higher levels of awareness and acceptance that receiving mental health support is an intelligent choice. Just like we go to the dentist twice a year, we all need a professional that knows our story in our corner. We all need someone that knows our patterns and can call out the blindspots we can’t yet see ourselves. There doesn’t need to be a crisis to start therapy.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We are often told by professors in graduate school that we are going into the field because we love service and being of service to others. We are reminded of this time and time again. This sentiment is true, of course. Counseling work wouldn’t happen with integrity any other way. But it can be extra challenging to take a population of people whose personality profile tends to lean towards being extra empathic, sensitive and caring and still prepare them for the toll that it takes to care deeply for people and hold space as they struggle. The topics we see in counseling often remind me of the sacredness of life, how frail we can be and yet how resilient. We struggle with serious mental health conditions that are sometimes chronic and difficult to manage. We struggle with addiction, abuse, heartbreak, loss or grief. We are also wildly resilient and filled with strength that sometimes seems other worldly. As such, I had to learn to expand my range of feelings a whole spectrum of emotions that are seem daily in the counseling room.
Lastly, there is a learning curve when supporting others during times in your personal life when life is also challenging for the therapist. We call this parallel processing, which is when we are doing our own personal work while supporting others to do their own.
For example, there was much parallel processing during the pandemic at a time when I was simultaneously working with students and processing my own feelings about that time. Parallel processing muscles get stronger with time, which is the good news.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Melissa Tully Counseling was born out of a desire to truly be of service to Virginians and offer specialized care to people that have tried therapy before and feel they haven’t found the right fit. I am known for integrating a Body, Mind, and Soul approach that ensures all aspects of a person’s life are integrated into the experience of healing. We are so much more than just our minds and cognitive expressions.
I witnessed personally and professionally how certain therapeutic modalities shorten treatment times measurably. How certain modalities improve people’s lives much quicker than simple talk therapy alone. I specialize in using EMDR and Somatic Integrative Therapy to bring the cellular memory of the body into the counseling experience. What this means is that I use the body’s cues–sensations, feelings, textures or shapes that come up during therapy– as messages to incorporate an additional layer of experience into therapy. Patients often describe these sessions as “life changing” and “insightful” as they understand themselves better and more quickly make progress that improves their condition.
Somatic Integrative therapy comes from the root word “soma”, which in greek means body. This means that the exercises done in therapy from these modalities have to be experienced and are often difficult to describe. With that in mind, here is an example to clarify what that means:
The patient that first inspired me to become trained in EMDR (Eye Movement De-sentization Therapy) had been suffering from almost daily panic attacks for approximately 3 years. The term panic attack has been used often in conversation almost to the point that it’s lost its real meaning. Panic attacks can be highly disruptive with states of heightened anxiety and panic so high they are often described as similar to heart attacks. I often hear from people that they thought they would die, and many go to the ER to check and double check symptoms. My patient’s life had been really influenced by her panic to the point that sometimes she had trouble walking her dog. She could not go to the gym. She could not go into her office for meetings. She could not even go to the grocery store without a loved one there for support. She also had trouble driving and could not fly on planes. After EMDR sessions with me, she was able to fly with her partner to Europe and emailed me excitedly from there to say that she got engaged in Paris, which would never have happened without therapeutic support.
This is not to minimize the importance of talk therapy, of being open, and of being transparent with your counselor. However, by now, professionals in the field have enough data to know that the Mind is the Body and the Body is the Mind. This is an old Dialectical-Behavior Therapy adage that holds true for somatic-focused therapy, as well. We know that the memory of traumatic events, the emotions and visuals of trauma live in the cellular memory of the body and in the neural pathways of the brain.
I am most proud of offering a person-centered and solution-focused approach to counseling. These tools are practical and easy to use for years afterwards. My goal is for my patient’s to be out there living their best lives and walk away from my therapy room with tools that work well for them, tools that they often pass down to their partners and children! It is so gratifying to have had so many patients that excitedly inspire their families to also educate themselves on mental health. It is an absolute honor to witness the ripple effects of their transformations.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success in my practice when patients increase their wellness and excitedly return to update me on how well their lives are going! I have received many gorgeous emails and phone-calls from patients that reach out after years of being away–with news of new babies, new careers, new homes.
Counseling is life changing and the bond between a counselor and their patient remains for years after therapy ends.
Pricing:
- Individual Sessions- $200
- Intensive Therapy Days-wait list only!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.melissatullycounseling.com
- Instagram: melissa_tully_counseling
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meltully
