Melissa Callahan, LMFT
EFT Certified Therapist & Supervisor, AAMFT Approved Supervisor
Hi, I’m Melissa Callahan, LMFT. As an attachment-based relational therapist, I believe in the profound impact that relationships have on our lives. In my work with clients, I approach each session with curiosity, empathy, warmth, and a touch of humor. My goal is to guide my clients respectfully and collaboratively through the therapeutic process.
With over 10 years of experience, I have provided treatment for couples, individuals, and families. I am an LGBTQ+ ally, non-monogamy-affirming, anti-racist, and culturally humble therapist, licensed to offer in-person sessions at my Northern Virginia office. I also provide telehealth sessions for clients in Virginia and North Carolina. If you're considering the brave step of beginning therapy, I encourage you to reach out and see if I’m the right fit for your healing journey.
Beginning therapy is both an investment and a vulnerable experience. To ensure you receive the best treatment, I utilize frameworks that are backed by research and proven effective for growth and healing. I am a Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist (EFT), committed to fostering deeper emotional connections and lasting change in relationships. EFT is an empirically validated model that has shown effectiveness for both couples and individuals. Additionally, I incorporate self-compassion techniques and Internal Family Systems as foundational approaches in my practice.
I am also a Virginia Board Approved Supervisor, eligible to supervise pre-licensed therapists working toward their LMFT or LPC status. As an ICEEFT Certified Supervisor, I can support you on your journey toward EFT Certification. Furthermore, I am an AAMFT Approved Supervisor, providing relational and systemic supervision across the country, and I can mentor you on your path to becoming an AAMFT Approved Supervisor.
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it, and embrace them.”
-Rumi
My Story
I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend, a therapist and a consumer of perpetual learning. I am a human with accomplishments and accolades, wounds and bruises, aspirations and failures, creativity and blockages and a collection of multi-faceted experiences. My life has been full of complicated relationships, some chosen by me, some given to me. My heritage includes intergenerational trauma from both biological branches. My given environment and systems combined with an inherent drive, rebellion and a tenacity for healthier living, was just the right combination to launch me into finding my purpose. This purpose is to understand the systemic roots of what I’ve endured and enrich myself with knowledge. This purpose is to heal myself and empower others to untangle their wounds in the way I had; the way I will continue to do. This purpose is to undo what has been done to me, and those before me, so I would not perpetuate the pain any more.
My purpose is to become. My purpose is to support others in their becoming.
Relationships have been the greatest source of pain … and the most joyous aspect of my life. I want to share my story, my messages, my vulnerability hoping it can serve others in their healing. As a relational healer, I want to support those individuals courageous enough to look inside their world, to understand their internal relationship with the self and the external relationships with others. My passion for healing extends to supporting and collaborating with the other healers in the world, encouraging each of us to understand and nurture the wounds we carry with us.