Melissa Maclean
Available on: Tuesdays and Fridays with additional availability by appointment.
Background: Melissa is a counsellor with 7 years of experience in Child Sexual Assault (CSA), working with young people, and non-offending family members. An academic at Western Sydney University in postgraduate counselling and psychotherapy programs, she works with and trains new counsellors.
Specialty: Melissa specialises in working with life transitions, sexual assault, supporting parents around neurodivergence, menopause and perimenopause, decision making around pregnancy, and grief.
Approach: Melissa uses a person-centred, and trauma-informed therapeutic approach. She incorporates expressive therapies, including sand and art-making techniques to support her clients’ healing journeys.
Perspective: Melissa believes in the power of the therapeutic relationship to create meaningful change. Her approach is characterised by ‘being with’ clients, walking alongside them rather than ‘doing to’ them, creating a supportive and collaborative therapeutic environment.
How to Book
- Think about your goals for counselling, and which counsellor might be a good match
- Send an email to the counsellor you’d like to work with requesting an appointment
- In the rare event you don’t hear from your counsellor within 24 hours, please call us
- Not sure who might be the right fit for you? Call us and we’re happy to make a recommendation
Intake Process
- Initial appointments are $70 for individuals, or $80 for couples
- Due to our counsellor’s busy schedules, they cannot do intakes over the phone
- Your intake session will include discussing what supports you need, your goals for counselling, and to decide whether your counsellor is a good match for you
- If you decide that the fit isn’t right, you can ask to be referred to someone else – no offence will be taken!
Important Notice
There are some people that our counsellors can’t work with – not because we don’t want to, but because we want you to have the best possible care.
If you currently experience domestic violence, are having a mental health crisis, are experiencing severe substance dependency issues, or other acute crises, we can’t provide you with the level of support you deserve. However, we will use your initial appointment to connect you with places that specialise in these issues, so you can get the best possible care.
All Rough Patch counsellors manage their own scheduling and administration. Click on a profile below to read more and send an email enquiry. In the rare event you don’t hear from a counsellor within 24 hours, please call us on 02 7226 0809
All of our counsellors generously reduce their usual fees to provide affordable mental healthcare to our community. They do not receive government rebates or funding to provide their services.
Request An Appointment With Melissa
Melissa MacLean is an experienced counsellor and academic specialising in complex life transitions, healing from sexual assault, and supporting parents of neurodivergent children. With seven years of experience working with child sexual assault survivors and their families, Melissa provides online counselling services across Australia with a trauma-informed, person-centred approach.
Melissa is an academic at Western Sydney University, teaching in postgraduate counselling and psychotherapy programs and training new counsellors. She works with adults navigating sexual assault recovery, life transitions, menopause and perimenopause, decision-making around pregnancy, grief, and the challenges of parenting neurodivergent children.
Using a person-centred and trauma-informed therapeutic approach, Melissa incorporates expressive therapies including sand and art-making techniques to support clients’ healing journeys. She believes in the power of the therapeutic relationship to create meaningful change, characterised by ‘being with’ clients and walking alongside them rather than ‘doing to’ them.
Melissa’s practice emphasises cultural safety, autonomy, and respect, creating a supportive and collaborative therapeutic environment where clients can explore challenging personal experiences, manage stress and emotional challenges, and move towards healing and growth.
Melissa is available for appointments on Tuesdays and Fridays, with additional availability by arrangement. Sessions are offered online across Australia.
If you’re navigating sexual assault recovery, parenting a neurodivergent child, or facing complex life transitions and want a counsellor with specialised training and academic expertise, Melissa offers compassionate, trauma-informed support grounded in collaboration and respect.
