Melissa specializes in mental health, substance use, well-being, suicide prevention, and community safety. She is particularly interested in expanding access to mental health care, supporting non-clinical programs and services that support mental well-being, reducing mental health stigma, and strengthening and diversifying the mental health workforce. She has extensive experience evaluating programs, assessing population needs, and analyzing systems and policies to identify actionable solutions and areas for opportunity.
In addition to her research and evaluation work, she has also trained and worked as a mental health provider. She has extensive knowledge of mental health interventions and theoretical orientations, services and service settings across the continuum of care, and electronic health record data and systems. Melissa holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University of St. Thomas and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Colorado College.
Melissa is also a contributor to the Minnesota Compass blog:
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