Melanie Baines, MA, AMFT
I'm a trauma-focused Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, registered in the state of California, and working at Relevant Steps Counseling.
I help individuals, couples, and families, break painful cycles, heal emotional wounds, and create connected, confident lives.
If you're navigating conflict, burdened by old patterns, or recovering from the impact of narcissistic relationships or family dysfunction, you don't have to make sense of it alone.
Therapy can offer a grounded, supportive place to explore your story and begin to build something new.
My Approach
Embodies a therapeutic style that is humanistic, empathetic, and insight-driven. Healing happens through understanding yourself, your relationships, and the patterns that have shaped you. Together, we will explore what's working, what isn't, and what needs care, compassion, and change.
With a blend of warmth and practical guidance, I will strive to help you:
- Identify patterns that no longer serve you
- Strengthen emotional resilience and self-trust
- Build healthier ways of relating
- Process trauma and reconnect with your inner wisdom
What I can help with
- Trauma and trauma-related symptoms
- Narcissistic abuse and relational trauma
- Family conflict and generational patterns
- Parental anxiety and overwhelm
- Relationship dynamics and communication
- Identity, life transitions, and emotional growth
About Me and Why I do this work
With a deep understanding of relationships, emotional wounds, and the impact of generational patterns, my work is grounded in the belief that every person has the capacity to grow, heal, and rewrite their narrative.
I'm passionate about helping people understand the "why" behind their experiences - why certain patterns repeat, why conflict escalates, and why emotional wounds linger.
When clients gain clarity, they gain power. They begin to reconnect with their intuition, make beneficial choices, and create healthier, more fulfilling relationships.
Therapeutic Style
Clients often describe me as:
- Warm and deeply empathetic
- Insightful and grounding
- Non-judgmental, open, and collaborative
- Direct as needed, always compassionate
Understanding that it takes courage to enter therapy, my goal is to offer a space where you feel both safe and supported in meaningful change.
Specialities
- High functioning yet emotionally stuck, anxious, or disconnected adults
- Trauma and PTSD
- Narcissistic abuse and emotional neglect
- Family conflict & generational patterns
- Parenting anxiety
- Relationship challenges
- Anxiety, stress, and overwhelm
- Low self-esteem and self-trust
- Life transitions
Services
INDIVIDUAL THERAPY:
Adults, teens, and pre-teens, navigating trauma, anxiety, identity shifts, or painful relational patterns. Together, we'll explore your experiences with compassion and depth, helping you rebuild confidence and emotional clarity.
COUPLES THERAPY:
Couples seeking healthier communication, conflict resolution, or recovery from relational wounds, can be helped to break old cycles, express needs safely, and build trust and connection.
FAMILY THERAPY:
For families working through conflict, generational trauma, or patterns that feel stuck or overwhelming, therapy offers structure, clarity, and tools for healthier communication.
Training and Background
- Marriage and Family Therapist Associate, Registration #AMFT154924
- Employed by Relevant Steps Counseling and Supervised by Demitri Richmond, CA License #27119.
- Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology (MA), Antioch University Los Angeles
- Specialization in Psychological Trauma
- Extensive experience supporting people through conflict and emotional healing
Online Sessions
Therapy is provided online to clients throughout California, through a secure tele-health platform. Flexible appointment times are offered so support can fit easily into your life.
$185 per session; $250 per couple session
Free 15 minute initial consultation