THERAPIST FOR HIGHLY SENSITIVE PEOPLE | WASHINGTON, DC & Maryland
ABOUT MELANIE
“melanie is wholehearted in all of her work. she connects from an authentic place, treating each relationship with great care.”
Sacred Sensitivity
Shortly after opening my therapy practice, almost a decade ago, I discovered I was a Highly Sensitive Person. A few years later, I decided to focus on working with HSPs.
And, for the past many years, I have sat with the most lovely, humble, deeply feeling, and brilliant humans. People who learned they were too much, not enough, or just different. People who made themselves smaller.
I’ve had the honor of helping these individuals unravel their shame, and understand how valuable they are. I’ve helped them know that their emotions —which have been minimized, diminished, even gaslit – are actually so powerful, necessary, and valid.
These days, connecting to our emotions and body, and acting from a place of inner knowing is a lost art.
If HSPs, people with high compassion and integrity, realign with their internal compass, they can offer such powerful gifts to the world.
Three aspects of my work
mindfulness
Through mindfulness practices, I’ll help you get out of your head, and open up to the tender places within yourself with kindness, curiosity, and non-judgment. To be fully alive means to experience your range of feelings from the most painful to the most joyful, to have compassion for it all, and to live with more meaning and freedom.
psychodynamic
I believe that therapy is a sacred space that allows for a deep exploration of who you are. Part of this work is to uncover the unconscious: states of mind, patterns, and relationship dynamics that happen outside of your full awareness. Bringing to light what has been hidden gives way to insights and integrations that become pathways to change.
experiential
Therapy with me is not following a manual. It is an organism at the intersection of you and I which is constantly unfolding in the room. We’ll create a deeply safe and trusting space to decipher your relationship patterns - and use therapy as a “lab” to explore feelings that arise, practice communicating, and establish new patterns.
i am…
...A connoisseur of coziness, a crossword puzzler, a music lover, and a Dylan fan. I’m a life-long collector of turtle trinkets, journals, and pottery. I love to draw, hike, and drink coffee. I am a native Marylander and an INFP. I am a Mom. I live in Takoma Park, Maryland with my family.
I DO…
...Therapy because I was an 8 year old talking to my parents about infinity, how the world began, and other things that felt deliciously mysterious to me. As a teenager the mystery that caught my attention was the human mind. It’s a mystery that never gets old. The twists, turns, and textures of our lives endlessly fascinate me. While I still revel in the mysterious beauty of what makes us human, I’ve come to understand that what drives my learning about psychology is to understand how we can live our best lives and connect with others.
i care…
...About your sacred place in this world, and am on a mission to help you live with more connection, joy, and meaning. I am dedicated to serving you with depth, authenticity, humor, and presence.
My GUiding Principles
Root Work
I feel it is essential to name the toxic frameworks we are embedded in — such as racism, ableism, and patriarchy — and to identify the messages and harm we have internalized. Only then can undo damage and begin to heal. Thus, part of our work is exploring our intersecting identities, cultural histories, and pain and memories, both conscious and unconscious, that we carry.
Deshame
Toxic systems are made up of separation, hierarchy, and violence which engender shame. As HSPs, we are particularly impacted by energy and our environments. In certain settings we feel self-doubt, isolation, and a need to be perfect. Healing starts with identifying the false narratives of “not good enough,” and coming to know the truth of our worthiness.
Empower
As HSPs, many of our qualities are devalued by the dominant culture where speed, competition, and hard power reign supreme. Part of our empowerment is to honor the value in our natural ways of being: thorough, deeply feeling, attuned to the sensorial, and creative. Part of our empowerment is experiencing our gentle strength., melting into joy, and gathering in community.
BIO
Melanie Eisner
Therapist for highly sensitive people and neurodivergents
Melanie has worked for fifteen years as a psychotherapist, training in a range of therapy modalities such as psychodynamic, body-centered, mindfulness, and parts-work. Melanie also draws upon years of education in creative writing, and experience in leading creative writing groups in therapeutic settings. Her passion is guiding sensitive and neurodivergent people to delve into their minds and hearts. She helps them to heal wounds that have impacted their sense of self, and recognize their inherent worth and beauty. She supports them in claiming and integrating their gifts, and knowing their whole selves.
qualifications
Licensed Clinical Social Worker in MD (LCSW-C) #18291
Licensed Clinical Social Worker in D.C. (LICSW) #LC50079858
Masters in Social Work, the University of Chicago
Masters of Arts in Social Sciences, the University of Chicago
Thesis: How the Creative Arts Facilitate Agency in At-Risk Youth
Bachelor of Arts, Washington University in St. Louis
Majors in Psychology and Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology
ADVANCED TRAINING IN PSYCHOTHERAPY
Narrative Therapy Training, Narrative Therapy Initiative
Internal Family Systems Training with Richard Schwartz (Cape Cod Institute)
Certified in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) Level 2
Fellowship, Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis
Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy, Washington School of Psychiatry
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Training, Northwestern Memorial Hospital
PAST CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
Suburban Hospital, Outpatient Addiction Treatment Center
Children's National Medical Center
The Native American Health Center, San Francisco
Graduate Internship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
ADVANCED TRAINING IN MEDITATION
Zentensives (two), week-long silent meditation retreat for psychotherapists with Lawson Sachter
Power of Awareness, Mindfulness and Compassion training with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield
Mindfulness for Clients with Shame and Fear with Tara Brach
InnerYoga Intensive with Dina Amsterdam
Creative Writing Classes led by:
Carl Phillips, Cheryl Strayed, Pam Houston, Seema Reza, and Lidia Yuknavitch; Susannah Conway and Kay Adams (Classes on Journal Writing and Journal Therapy).