Not Sure?

Online Therapy For Adults in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with Dr. Melissa Valentina Can Help!

If you’re approaching therapy with uncertainty, I want to help. 

Talk to me about therapy
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VeteransTransitionsConfidenceStill not sure?
Take the first step
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Veteran Mental Health

You have served your duty and returned home. You know that you must move forward but don’t know how to do that anymore.

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You Are Not Alone

You can be present for your loved ones and for yourself

I am Dr. Melissa Valentina, counselor and therapist who founded New Leaf Therapy, but I am also a veteran of the United States Air Force. I have been in those spaces of confusing grief and bittersweet memories myself, and I am here now to walk through them with you.

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With the support you deserve, these obstacles will not continue to block you from your potential. You are meant for so many things in this life. Your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual lives all need nourishment to thrive so you can be unstoppable. In order to honor yourself and live your truth, it is time to invest in yourself.

You Owe It to Yourself to Live Your Life to Your Fullest Potential

It's hard to talk about what happened—what you went through—with just anyone.​ Veterans understand this uniquely bittersweet struggle in a way that often feels impossible to explain. They know how difficult it is to be far from home and family, and how confusing it can feel when you return home. 
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Those who shared your tour(s) of duty know you from a time in your life that stands apart from all else. They know you in ways that others don’t and share experiences you cannot put into words. While you are deployed, you develop a military family who know and understand what you are going through, and then you go home to strangers. Returning home can be complicated for veterans. Things feel different —inside and out—than before they left.

We will work together to relax the mind, motivate a relationship with your whole self and reclaim your sense of self-empowerment. At the center of your therapy will be a focus on self-sufficiency, to direct your own healing and power so you can move from surviving to thriving. My clients come to realize how to honor themselves and live their truth in any situation.

I specialize in helping veterans suffering from grief and loss to heal their hearts and mend their lives. 

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Navigating transitions

Is your life in flux?

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Relocation 

Moving can be overwhelming whether you are moving 50 miles or 5,000.
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If you’re looking for tools and support to navigate a change in location, lifestyle and expectations, we will work together to develop the tools you need along the way. 
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From planning your move to adjusting to your new home, you’ll feel empowered by the power you take back when you’ve got the tools to overcome any barrier you face. 

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Career Change

First job? New job? Maybe you’re getting a new position, a new role or changing careers entirely. Knowing what to expect and how to conduct yourself can feel like a lot to process - and that’s before you even take on those new roles. 
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The pressure of work is immense. Let’s work together to talk about your biggest fears, your greatest strengths, and to reinforce your confidence in the abilities you have and the skills that got you here.

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Relationships

Endings and beginnings can be particularly emotional- even when they’re for the best. When you’re working through new developments in your relationships, it feels critical to understand the role you play and the impact it will have on your future. 

At any stage of a relationship, change can feel jarring but healing is always within your grasp. You deserve to find peace and confidence in the paths you’re on, as an individual and in your relationships.

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Therapy to help you feel confident

It is not bragging. You can be confident and humble at the same time.

Do you know what you’re good at but you still don’t feel confident advocating for your skills or “talking yourself up”? 

Do you have an impressive background but you’re not sure how to stop downplaying your achievements to reach for what you truly deserve? 
Developing a confident relationship with your skills and capabilities is an important part of many aspects of your life. From professional development to feeling empowered in your own physical and mental healthcare, owning your abilities will make a world of difference in not just the way you communicate but the way you’re heard as well.

Confidence can help with
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Career Negotiations
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Medical Care 
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Personal Empowerment
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Self Esteem
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Professional Confidence
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Relationship Satisfaction

Taking back your power

Pain Management

When you’re constantly in pain, it may feel like you’ve surrendered your life to the way you can cope with that pain each day. A medical doctor may be in charge of the physical tools you have to do so, but together we can discover emotional causes and needs around the pain.
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In therapy, pain management tools may express themselves as a health journal or re-writing your mental narrative to create a new relationship with your thoughts and capability. 

Stress Relief

There’s a threshold where stress goes from a protective tool for the mind to an obstruction to your productivity and self-esteem, but managing your own stress can feel impossible when so much of it is rooted in outside sources. 
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So, let’s take a fine-tooth comb to relieve the stress in your life. We will discover the obstacles that can be eliminated and the tools we can use to make the stress we can’t avoid a more manageable part of your life so it takes a backseat to your healing.