Meet Mel

The heart behind healing with Mel Galbraith

“YOU are the expert in your life, and we are just two people figuring it out together.”

—Mel Galbraith

Mel Galbraith knows what it is to carry parts that are tired, to do her own inner work alongside the work she holds for others, and to find that healing is not about becoming someone new — it is about coming home to who you already are.

She has been a psychotherapist for over a decade. She holds a Master of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University (with earlier studies at the University of Waterloo and Fanshawe College) and has trained extensively in Internal Family Systems through the IFS Institute and IFS Canada (IFSCA), where she served as Training Director.

She has worked in community agencies, specialized treatment facilities, and school boards. She teaches, supervises, and mentors IFS practitioners internationally. And through all of it, she has kept returning to the same belief:

She has walked this path too.

You have the inner resources to heal. Sometimes you just need someone to help you find them.

A few things Mel holds to be true.

We all do the best we can with the skills and resources we have at any given moment.

Healing comes not from fixing what feels broken, but from nurturing the parts that have been left in the shadows — with curiosity, compassion, and care.

The therapeutic relationship is a collaboration. Mel is dedicated to reducing the power imbalance that can live in therapy rooms. You are not a patient. You are a person, and you are the expert in your own life.

She is honoured to join people for a short time on their journey. She is humbled, every time, by the strength and courage people bring to this work.

TESTIMONIALS

In Their Own Words…

Lee Jester

“I worked with Melissa for about a year and it changed my life. I have worked with many therapists of various disciplines and Mel and IFS are unquestionably the best. “

Mel skillfully kept me focused on my "protectors" and patiently allowed me to understand how they control my life. I now have a far better understanding of myself and the factors that molded me and why. She will help you into a greater and deeper understanding of yourself.

I would strongly encourage anyone to seek her guidance and wisdom. It was the best thing I have ever done for myself!

Kerry Backstrom | Compass Dreamwork

“It is a real privilege to be given a chance to experience Mel's depths of knowledge and experience of IFS.”

I especially appreciate the way she can respond spontaneously with a wealth of tools and skills (including humor and kindness) to whatever questions or problems arise. She brings her whole Self to her teaching, and allows us to meet some of her own parts who have abundant gifts to share. I’ll definitely be looking for more opportunities to learn from and work with Mel in the future.

Santyna Brar| The Witch's Therapist™ Inc.

“Mel is incredible at her job! “

She is clear, empathetic, demonstrative, open, curious and compassionate! If you are hoping to get into the world of IFS, Stepping Stone is a great learning opportunity (especially if Mel is facilitating).

I was part of the Queer/2SLGBTQIA+ cohort and I felt so accepted, seen and understood in each and every session!

Liana | Liana Rose Counselling

“Mel's teaching style is so honest and inviting, I felt immediately held, supported, and trusting of the process.”

Mel's knowledge is vast, and I felt so safe leaning into her expertise. I would love to learn from Mel again!

Certifications & Training

  • IFS Informed Somatic Trauma Therapy; 60 Hour Certificate Program; (Frank Anderson, et al. June 2026)

  • A Somatic Guide to Working with Shame (Bessel Van Der Kolk, Peter Levine, et al. May 2026) 

  • Trauma Informed Internal Family Systems (Joanne Twombly, May 2025)

  • Wisdom & Wellbeing - Intensive Week (Richard C. Schwartz, March 2024)

  • Relational Intelligence, Level 1 (Francois Le Doze, April 2023 - 2024)

  • IFS Shame Camp (Martha Sweezy, Tony Herbine-Blank, September 2023)

  • Level 3, Internal Family Systems Therapy (Cece Sykes, August 2023)

  • The Gifts of Exiles (Paul Neustadt, March 2023)

  • Healing Preverbal Trauma with IFS (Colleen West, October 2022)

  • Somatic IFS Advanced Training (Susan McConnell, July 2022)

  • A Compassionate Approach to Addictive Processes with IFS (Dick Schwartz & Cece Sykes, June 2022)

  • Hakomi Intro: A Body Centred Approach to Trauma (Pamela Thompson & Magi Cooper, March 2022)

  • Somatic IFS Series (Susan McConnell, November 2021)

  • Level 2, Trauma and Neuroscience of IFS (Frank Anderson & Fran Booth, June 2021)

  • Treating Complex Trauma with Internal Family Systems (IFS) (Frank Anderson, March 2021)

  • Level 1, Internal Family Systems Therapy (Paul Ginter & Mona Barbera, February 2021)

  • Heart lessons of the IFS Journey (Cece Sykes, September 2020)

  • Internal Family Systems Online Circle (Dick Schwartz, Tony Herbine-Blank, & Pamela Krause, September 2020)

  • Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (Sue Johnston, June 2020) 

  • Clinical Applications of Internal Family Systems Therapy (Frank Anderson, April 2020)

  • Internal Family Systems Skills and Competencies Training (Derek Scott, December 2019)

  • Overcoming Roadblocks to Healing with Internal Family Systems (Frank Anderson, June 2019)

  • Narrative Therapy, Responding to Trauma, Level 1 & 2 (Narrative Therapy Centre, May 2019) 

  • Narrative Approaches to Work with Trauma: Justice Doing & Witnessing Resistance (Vikki Reynolds, May 2019)