Melissa Penney
Canadian Certified Counsellor - Qualifying
Supporting individuals and couples in processing childhood trauma, negative core beliefs, relationship dynamics, and emotional patterns.
Availability: Accepting New Clients
In-person (Calgary) or Online (AB, BC, SK, MB, NWT).
*Currently No Waitlist
Melissa Works With:
Adults & Teens
Individuals & Couples
Service Areas: Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and The Northwest Territories.
Phone: 587-353-3445, Ext. 211
Email: melissa@carbonpsychology.ca
Mel works with adults, teens, and couples who are navigating challenges that feel difficult to manage on their own. Many of her clients are accustomed to pushing through, staying responsible, and taking care of others, yet find themselves feeling overwhelmed, stuck, disconnected, or caught in patterns that continue to repeat despite their efforts to create change.
She is a strong fit for clients experiencing anxiety, depression, stress, relationship challenges, perfectionism, people-pleasing, self-criticism, and questions around identity, purpose, and meaning. Many of her clients are exploring the impact of early life experiences, childhood trauma, or family dynamics that continue to shape how they relate to themselves and others. She also works with couples who want to improve communication, navigate conflict more effectively, rebuild trust, and deepen emotional connection.
Before becoming a therapist, Mel spent eight years working as a nutritionist, supporting individuals facing complex health concerns including cancer, chronic illness, fibromyalgia, and women's health challenges, particularly the transitions and emotional impact of menopause. This experience deepened her appreciation for the connection between physical health, emotional wellbeing, and the ways life circumstances can affect a person's sense of self. Mel believes that meaningful change becomes possible when people are given the space to better understand themselves, heal old patterns, and move toward a life that feels more aligned with who they are.
Melissa’s Approach.
Mel's approach is relational, practical, and grounded in the belief that many of the struggles people experience in adulthood are rooted in adaptive patterns developed earlier in life. As a counsellor trained in Transactional Analysis, she helps clients understand how childhood experiences, family dynamics, and early survival strategies continue to influence their thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and relationships in the present.
Many of her clients find themselves repeating the same patterns without fully understanding why. These patterns often show up as self-limiting beliefs such as "I'm not good enough," "I have to be perfect," or "I am only lovable if I meet other people's needs." While these beliefs may have developed as ways of coping or staying safe during earlier stages of life, they can become barriers to authenticity, connection, and wellbeing in adulthood. Clients learn to identify these deeply ingrained patterns, understand their origins, and develop healthier ways of relating to themselves and others.
Her work is informed by attachment, trauma, and neuroscience-based perspectives on change. By combining insight with deliberate practice, clients learn new ways of communicating, responding to emotions, and engaging in relationships. Over time, these experiences help create new neural pathways that support greater self-compassion, autonomy, emotional regulation, and a stronger sense of safety in daily life. Rather than reacting through old, automatic survival responses, clients develop the ability to respond from a more grounded, present-focused, and intentional place.
What it’s like to sit with Melissa.
Sessions with Mel tend to feel warm, supportive, and grounded. She creates a space where clients can show up authentically, without judgment or pressure, and explore what has been weighing on them with honesty and curiosity. Her approach is sensitive, compassionate and empathetic, helping clients feel understood while also supporting them in making meaningful changes that align with the life they want to create.
Mel's style is collaborative, down-to-earth, and practical. She believes that therapy works best when there is a genuine connection built on trust, respect, and mutual understanding. Drawing from her own experience navigating life's complexities, she recognizes that every person's story is unique and that healing rarely follows a straight line.
As a world traveller, Mel brings a deep appreciation for cultural humility and the many ways people experience and make sense of the world. She is committed to creating an inclusive, affirming space where people of all cultural backgrounds, identities, relationship structures, sexual orientations, and life experiences feel welcomed and respected. Whether clients are navigating long-standing patterns, difficult transitions, or questions about who they are and how they want to live, Mel strives to create a therapeutic relationship where they can feel safe, supported, and empowered to move forward.
Personal Note
Always firstly, I am a mother to my amazing eleven year old son Isaac. Although I was born in Edmonton, Calgary has been my home since I was seventeen. I love to travel and have spent many of my adult years outside Canada. I spent nine of them in the UK, a year in Finland, another year in Southeast Asia and India, and many other trips in between. To me, people and relationships are the best part of life and travel has given me the opportunity to make friends all over the world.
When I am not travelling, I am enjoying anything and everything outdoors. Camping, hiking, skiing, swimming in our beautiful lakes, paddleboarding or rafting, I love it all. In the toughest times in my life, spending time in nature and the outdoors have been the fastest way back to myself. I also love food and spend probably more than a healthy amount of time in my kitchen.
Education.
Masters of Counselling Psychology (City University of Seattle)
First class Degree with Honours in Nutritional Sciences, specialised in clinical and sport nutrition (Manchester Metropolitan University)
Post-graduate psychology training in Transactional Analysis and the Gottman Method (level 1)
Post-graduate nutrition training in menopause, fertility, PCOS, type 2 diabetes, IBS, and sport nutrition.
Melissa Helps With.
Depression • Chronic stress • Trauma • Anxiety • Menopause and women’s health challenges •Interpersonal/relationship challenges • Phobias • Existential Concerns • Identity • Self-compassion • Emotional Dysregulation • Family Conflict • Couples Therapy