Melissa has been intrigued with people, the body, mind, spirit, emotions, nature, health, behavior, culture, and energy all of her life.  During her adolescence, she chose to spend much of her time immersing her Self in nature, traveling amongst a variety of people and places, drawn to art and the philosophies of the Beats, Hippies, Existentialists, Transcendentalists, and Environmentalists, and regularly attended live music concerts, including 3 Grateful Dead shows, to “move, feel and journey with the music”.  While witnessing bands and audiences dynamically interact through the medium of sound, music and cheers, Melissa began her exploration of the energetic world.  She lived in Provincetown, MA the summer after high school and then went off to a small environmental liberal arts college in Poultney, Vermont – Green Mountain College (GMC).  In 1997, she drove cross country toward Hale Bopp, and a couple months later spent the summer in Boulder, CO where she deemed Be Here Now and A Celestine Prophecy to be her helping-friendly books.  She spent a few more years studying in Vermont before taking classes, conducting research, teaching English, hiking and exploring the beautiful lands, peoples and cultures of South Korea and Japan.  After a summer working in Martha’s Vineyard, Melissa completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioral Science and Environmental Science from GMC in May, 2001.  She is forever grateful for the diverse experiences during those impressionable years that allowed her to observe different peoples living according to their distinct thoughts, beliefs, values, ethics, and environmental conditions.

During her twenties, Melissa focused on her personal healing work involving being present, mindful, simple, receptive, compassionate, and connected to Nature and Spirit. In addition, she taught, traveled, lived, studied, and worked at beaches, public schools, environmental and art centers, greenhouses, holistic education institutes, as well as hitchhiked, lived in the woods, on homesteads, and within intentional communities throughout the US.  Despite a lengthy trauma history, strong emotions and sensitivities, and the daily struggles associated with chronic health issues and pain, Melissa became encouraged by particular tools, practices, attitudes, and ways-of-thinking and being that she observed appeared to be creating more satisfying lives, relationships, careers, and health.  Melissa heard her calling and commenced her lifework – to live in service of the greater good, Life, Divine; to connect and seriously care for the Self in addition to others; to respectfully take part in evolution: and to inspire, encourage and empower others to connect with their Selves, their body’s wisdom in order to progress toward more healthy, conscious, and sustainable ways of living.

In 2005, Melissa graduated from Educating Hands School of Massage and Bodywork in Miami, FL, began her Craniosacral Therapy studies with the Upledger Institute and opened her Bodywork practice in South Florida. She focused on developing her massage skills and cultivating her intuition, working with hundreds of people and bodies, as well as health conditions and lifestyles.  Melissa made her way back to Vermont in the spring of 2007 and earned her Holistic Health Practitioner certification from the Global College of Natural Medicine, incorporating the healing aspects of nutrition, detoxification, herbs, body-mind therapies, and lifestyle modifications.  She has been attending classes in Craniosacral Therapy with both the Upledger Institute and the Milne Institute over the last 17 years.  Melissa has also been taking classes in Anatomy Trains and Structural Integration with Tom Myers the last 11 years, and recently completed 5 of Tom’s dissection classes. Back in 2016, she completed a 250-hour Zen Shiatsu training, advancing the incorporation of 5-Element Chinese Medicine into her bodywork sessions.

For the last 17 years, Melissa has been providing therapeutic massage, bodywork, and energy work to educators, town administrators, local non-profit employees, veterans, and the Brattleboro community at-large, as well as offering herbs, supplements, food, medicine, and personal well-being and bodywork consultations and classes.  She helps her clients manage and heal pain and improve performance after injuries, relax muscle spasms and relieve tension, reduce inflammation, soreness and stiffness, and increase range of motion.  In addition, clients continue to choose Melissa as their therapist because she is effective at meeting them where they are at, soothing their nervous systems, working with trauma, reducing blood pressure, strengthening resistance to disease and chronic conditions, and balancing hormonal activity. She is grateful to be of service, nurturing and supporting her clients and community, while creating sacred space for people to heal and connect with their Inner Healer and self-corrective mechanisms.

Melissa continues to study and practice a variety of massage and bodywork techniques including Craniosacral Therapy, Structural Integration, Myofascial Release, 5- Element Chinese Medicine and Zen Shiatsu.  She is also perpetually creating and managing a delicious Food and Medicine Forest Homestead involving cannabis, garlic, herbs, tomatoes, peppers, peaches, and much more!  Melissa is a life-long student, nature-lover, artist, dancer, swimmer, hiker, astrologer, teacher, healer, land steward, permaculturist and biodynamic grower, forager, wild-crafter  and traveler.  She feels especially blessed to be working with the Innate Intelligence of Divine, of Nature, and of the Body, Mind, Spirit and Emotions.