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Melissa Di Fonzo

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Registered Social Worker
She/Her
Sessions start at
$190.00

Melissa is here to support you with trauma, self-acceptance, ADHD, and maladaptive coping behaviours.

Headshot of Melissa Di Fonzo from waist up smiling in a business casual top.

Melissa supports adults and adolescents with trauma, social anxiety, substance abuse, OCD, disordered eating, perfectionism, self-esteem, and burnout. Melissa has both personal and professional experience dealing with these mental health challenges, in addition to anxiety and depression. She is passionate about helping you with these challenges because she has lived through many of them herself.

Melissa is a senior therapist, with well over a decade of experience working in private, community, and hospital-based practices. Melissa also specializes in supporting people with interpersonal challenges, chronic pain, and personality disorders, such as borderline or narcissistic personality disorder. She also supports people with ADHD to manage challenges such as time management and executive dysfunction.

Melissa recognizes that it takes courage for you to trust her and the therapy process. With authenticity and warmth, Melissa can bring awareness to your blind spots and lovingly reflect unhealthy patterns. She doesn’t shy away from challenging situations, whether they are from your past or they arise in therapy. Melissa uses somatic and relational-based interventions like gestalt therapy, and psychedelic-assisted therapy, where she supports individuals with psychedelic integration. Melissa believes you have inherent strengths and will equip you with skills to live a fuller life. Melissa offers EMDR from an attachment and somatic-focused perspective to support people with trauma, phobias, panic attacks, self-esteem, eating disorders, and addictions. She also uses cognitive behavioural therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy in sessions.

Melissa's sessions are informal, conversational, and experiential. Melissa uses a holistic approach in her practice because she is aware of the mind, body, and spirit connection. Her own spiritual practices include meditating, energy massage therapy, and dancing (body movement). She also loves cats and got a kitten over COVID to help her get through it. If you're looking for an experienced, non-judgmental, and compassionate therapist, she is ready to meet you!

Melissa is the co-author of the bookEating Disorders: Causes, Diagnosis and Treatments.

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Right for you if:

You're looking for a therapist that's deeply compassionate.
You're looking for an expert in trauma work, inner child healing and integration.
You're looking for someone to be direct and honest.
You are looking support with self-esteem and self-worth.

Right for you if:

You're looking for a therapist that's deeply compassionate.
You're looking for an expert in trauma work, inner child healing and integration.
You're looking for someone to be direct and honest.
You are looking support with self-esteem and self-worth.

More about

Melissa

Melissa Di Fonzo standing in front of a large white railing with palm trees in the background smiling.

Q&A

What does good mental health look like to you?
Mental health means making sure I keep up with my self-care routine so that I can be there for others.
What do you do to take care of your own mental health?
I resist the urge to isolate and reach out to friends. Sometimes I also dance or yell to move the unwanted energy out of my body.
What would you say to a friend struggling with a mental health issue?
I'm so glad you reached out to me. You’re not alone in this. We'll figure this out together.

Master of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University

Bachelor of Social Work (Honours), Lakehead University

Bachelor of Science (Honours), University of Toronto

EMDRIA-Approved EMDR Basic Training (Personal Transformation Institute)

Brief & Narrative Therapy (Windz Institute)

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: Beyond the Basics (OISE)

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Foundations (OISE)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Fundamentals (OISE)

Emotional Freedom Technique (Free Your Emotions)

Gestalt Therapy (Gestalt Institute of Toronto)

Reiki Practitioner

Certified Laughter Yoga Instructor (Laughter Yoga International)

Mindfulness Training (Daniel Siegel)

Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers

Ontario Association of Social Workers

Blogs by

Melissa

@theshiftcollab

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