Helping Clients Move Beyond Survival Patterns
Virtual trauma and OCD therapy for adults across Utah and Oregon
Therapy should feel collaborative, grounded, and tailored to the individual — not rushed or one-size-fits-all.
My approach integrates evidence-based therapies including ERP and EMDR while focusing on understanding the deeper patterns, nervous system responses, and experiences shaping your life.
Together, we work toward meaningful and lasting change with care that is thoughtful, compassionate, and personalized to your goals.
Melanie Crofts, LCSW
I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker providing virtual therapy to adults located throughout Utah and Oregon. I specialize in helping adults navigate trauma, OCD, intrusive thoughts, emotional overwhelm, perfectionism, and chronic stress.
My approach integrates EMDR, Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), mindfulness-based practices, and relational therapy. Treatment is collaborative and individualized, with attention to the experiences and patterns contributing to distress and the changes that matter most to you.
I am EMDR-trained, have completed advanced training in complex trauma and Future Vision EMDR, and am an EMDRIA member currently working toward EMDRIA certification.
Therapy should feel collaborative, thoughtful, and personalized — helping clients move beyond survival patterns and toward a life that feels more grounded, aligned, and manageable.
My Approach to Therapy
PhilosophyHealing does not erase your past — it changes your relationship to it.
Clinical Training
EMDR
Trauma-focused therapy designed to help the brain process distressing experiences and reduce emotional overwhelm.
ERP
Evidence-based treatment for OCD focused on reducing compulsions, fear cycles, and avoidance.
Mindfulness
Evidence-based practices that support emotional awareness, nervous system regulation, and greater presence in daily life.
Relational
Creating a collaborative therapeutic relationship that supports insight, growth, and meaningful change.
What Therapy Can Help You With
-
Improving emotional flexibility and responsiveness
Learn to respond to stress with greater flexibility, awareness, and confidence.
-
Decreasing intensity of traumatic responses
Experience life with decreased traumatic symptoms and discover life with more regular emotional responses.
-
Feeling more grounded and present
Develop tools to reconnect with yourself and daily life instead of living in survival mode.
Evidence-based virtual therapy for adults across Utah and Oregon specializing in trauma, OCD, intrusive thoughts, chronic stress, and emotional overwhelm.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
I specialize in working with adults navigating trauma, OCD, intrusive thoughts, chronic stress, emotional overwhelm, compulsive behaviors, avoidance patterns, and nervous system dysregulation. Treatment is tailored to each individual using evidence-based approaches including EMDR, ERP, mindfulness, and relational therapy.
-
Ascent Therapy Co. provides virtual individual therapy for adults age 18 and older who are physically located in Utah or Oregon at the time of their appointment. Melanie Crofts, LCSW, is licensed as a Clinical Social Worker in both states. Sessions are conducted through a secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform.
-
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based trauma therapy designed to help the brain process distressing experiences that continue to feel emotionally or physically overwhelming. EMDR can support healing from single-event trauma, childhood relational wounds, chronic stress, panic responses, and other experiences that remain “stuck” in the nervous system.
-
ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) is considered the gold-standard treatment for OCD and fear-based patterns. ERP helps clients practice experiencing intrusive thoughts and uncertainty without relying on compulsions, reassurance, avoidance, or attempts to achieve complete certainty.
-
The first session is an intake appointment focused on understanding your background, current symptoms, goals, and what patterns may be contributing to distress. Together, we will begin building a collaborative treatment plan tailored to your needs, values, and desired direction for therapy.
-
Therapy may be helpful if you feel stuck in painful emotional patterns, overwhelmed by stress, disconnected from yourself, caught in fear cycles, or struggling to move toward the life you want to create. The therapeutic process is collaborative and individualized, with the goal of helping clients build greater flexibility, insight, resilience, and meaningful change over time.
-
No. Therapy is not only for extreme or catastrophic experiences. Many people seek therapy for chronic stress, relational wounds, intrusive thoughts, emotional overwhelm, perfectionism, burnout, or patterns that have gradually become difficult to manage. Treatment can support both symptom reduction and deeper personal growth.
-
Ascent Therapy Co. is a private-pay practice. Melanie also offers a limited number of insurance-based appointments through an affiliation with Beehive Mental Health. Those services are billed and administered separately by Beehive and depend on insurance eligibility and current availability. Contact me for details.
-
Yes. Intrusive thoughts are unwanted thoughts, images, or fears that can feel distressing, repetitive, or difficult to control. Therapy approaches such as ERP and mindfulness-based interventions can help reduce fear cycles, compulsions, reassurance-seeking, and the emotional impact of intrusive thoughts over time.
Connect & Learn More
Psychology Today
A place to learn more about my approach, specialties, and availability.
Learn more about my professional background, experience, and clinical specialties.
EMDRIA Directory
View Melanie’s professional profile, EMDR training information, and EMDRIA membership.
Serving clients virtually across Utah and Oregon.
Request a Confidential Consultation
Use the inquiry form to ask a general question or request a free 15-minute consultation to discuss what you’re looking for and whether Ascent Therapy Co. may be a good fit.
Please avoid including sensitive clinical information. This form is not monitored continuously and should not be used for urgent or emergency concerns. I typically respond within two business days.
Information submitted through this form is kept private and confidential.