Melissa Nawfal

Melissa Nawfal is a Clinical Psychologist with a background in behavioural and experiential therapies, focusing on third-wave therapies that help individuals make meaningful changes by aligning their actions with personal values. She earned her BA in Psychology in 2016 and MA in Clinical Psychology in 2020 from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. She trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy at Bellevue Medical Centre in Beirut, Lebanon, in 2018, and became a certified Schema Therapist, in 2023, through the International Society of Schema Therapy (Bad Vilbel, Germany, received in Beirut). She also completed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy training (ACT) through the American University of Beirut Medical Centre in Beirut, Lebanon, in 2023, and additional advanced online ACT trainings through the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (Jenison, Michigan, USA). Melissa has over seven years of experience working with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds in a variety of settings. This includes private practice, where she provided therapy for adults facing a range of emotional and behavioural difficulties, university-based counselling with students from the African continent, and crisis intervention in humanitarian settings with Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Throughout her career, Melissa has developed the ability to tailor her approach to meet the unique needs of each client, taking their psychosocial context into account. She has also designed and led initiatives that promote mental health awareness and inclusivity. Melissa has also worked with pregnant women and new mothers, particularly those experiencing anxiety and adjustment difficulties related to physical changes, lifestyle shifts, and evolving family dynamics, as well as those navigating perinatal depression. She has provided support for women managing the societal and economic pressures of pregnancy and parenting. Additionally, Melissa designed and implemented psycho-social awareness curricula specifically for Syrian refugee women who were pregnant or breastfeeding, focusing on coping strategies, mental health education, and key child development information. Her goal was to empower these women in vulnerable settings, helping them feel more prepared, supported, and confident throughout their pregnancy and early parenting journey. Melissa provides therapy for emotional, behavioural, and relational challenges, including anxiety, mood disorders, addiction disorders, trauma responses, OCD, and identity or relationship difficulties. She also specialises in treating perinatal mental health issues, including perinatal depression, anxiety, and adjustment difficulties. Her collaborative and experiential approach focuses on helping clients make meaningful behavioural changes aligned with their personal values, moving beyond traditional talk therapy. She also works with persistent patterns, such as borderline, narcissistic, and avoidant personality disorders, treatment-resistant depression, and severe OCD. Using Schema Therapy, which combines behavioural, psychodynamic, and emotion-focused techniques, Melissa helps clients identify and transform these patterns, viewing them as responses that once served a purpose and can be changed with healthier alternatives.