My Areas of Expertise
Couples Counseling
Developing and sustaining healthy and thriving relationships is enormously rewarding, yet one of our most difficult challenges. It’s the rare individual who hasn’t struggled in a relationship. The reason for this lies in the simple fact that we were never educated in this most essential skill: the art of relationship. These skills are learnable. Successful and intimate relationships are the cornerstone of a well-lived life.
Communication Is the Heartbeat of Relationships
I teach individuals and couples how to develop a powerful command of their communication skills. This is a fundamental step toward personal growth and succeeding in your relationships. The ultimate goal is to engage in fruitful and generative dialogue, with compassion, validation, and empathy. Effective communication is a vital ingredient in enjoying a successful life.
Should I Get Divorced?
Millions of people wrestle with this life-altering decision. Contemplating divorce is a gut wrenching decision, often summoning fear and distress. The consequences of divorce and the consequences of not getting divorced are infinite. So how do we come to make this critical choice? Processing your decision through individual and/or marriage counseling often helps illuminate the correct path for you.
I’ll help you navigate this life-altering decision. Should you decide to divorce the ensuing upheaval can be distressful. I’ll assist you, and perhaps your children, move through this critical period to reach a better place. Seeing beyond your crisis to realize and prosper in your new life is a major life transition that awaits you.
Pre-Marital Counseling
For the most part the inspired marriage vows that people share with each other sadly go unfulfilled over time. It doesn’t need to be this way. Learning the essential principles of communication and emotional intimacy early on can help you sustain your love. Pre-marital counseling is a wonderful emotional investment in your family’s future.
Parenting: Raising Resilient Children
Many common beliefs—the rulebook of parenting if you will—fall short in helping us navigate the challenges of parenting in the 21st Century. Every family is unique, although their concerns may be common. Parents can learn to be instrumental and effective in helping guide their offspring toward developing strong self-esteem and a successful launching.
Fostering Individual Growth
Learning to break free from our old “stories” and embrace the uncertainty of the unknown, allows us to summon new possibilities into our life. We don’t need to be constrained by our past once we learn to unburden our limiting beliefs and thinking that have acted as a straitjacket. Getting unstuck from our familiar zone opens the doorway to living the life you choose.
Overcoming Anxiety and Depression
You can do better than manage anxiety and depression—you can learn to overcome these afflictions. You can accomplish this without meds once you learn to transcend your operating beliefs and limiting thoughts. Often, depression is situational—your circumstances may indeed be depressing. At other times depression is due to feeling isolated. We’ll work to change those circumstances. Anxiety is often rooted in our discomfort with uncertainty and our need for predictability. When our thoughts perpetually attach to fear the result is anxiety. Many people I’ve worked with report that they have fully overcome these life-diminishing conditions.
Self-Esteem
Genuine self-esteem doesn’t come from achievement, popularity, and/or financial success. These are markers of what I call “other-esteem,” as they rely on external factors. Authentic self-esteem is derived from being your own best ally, which can be accomplished by rethinking your relationship with your own self, primarily by developing a healthy relationship with your thoughts. Low self-esteem often surfaces as anxiety, depression, ADHD, and a host of other afflictions. You can develop a powerful sense of self.
Low Self-Esteem; A Missed Diagnosis
Mentoring
My work with adolescents and young adults often takes on an aspect of mentoring, as I help them to find meaning and purpose in their lives. The rigorous demands of life or, the absence of a parent, leave our kids wanting for more guidance. A trusted ally can be most beneficial to their process.
Moving Beyond Addiction – Alcohol, Drugs, Love & Sex
Recognizing and working through addiction toward sobriety is a singular first step. Yet, once we achieve sobriety we may come to appreciate that our addictions masked our need for a transformative experience. This transformation heals our wounded inner self as we emerge to a higher and more powerful place.

Mel Schwartz Psychotherapy & Marriage Counseling • 246 Post Road East, Suite 275 Westport, CT 06880
BROWSE THE BLOG CATEGORIES
- Anxiety & Depression (7)
- Communication (14)
- Leadership (1)
- New Thinking (60)
- New Worldview (35)
- Parenting (3)
- Personal Growth (55)
- Podcasts (16)
- Political (6)
- Relationships (17)
- Self-Esteem (9)
- The Possibility Podcast (16)
- Workshops (4)
RECENT BLOG POSTS
The Three Pillars of LeadershipJuly 31, 2019 - 2:19 pm
Authentic leaders are by definition singular individuals. They possess a unique array of qualities and skills that enable them to lead others. Yet, we shouldn’t assume that these attributes are unattainable or too challenging to learn. Leadership skills are uncommon simply because we’ve received little or no education in this subject. If mathematics wasn’t routinely […]
googleimagesOur Words MatterApril 10, 2019 - 3:47 pm
I’ve been struck by how often our words fly by each other without any real sincerity to them. Have you noticed how punctuated and meaningless our exchanges have become? We appear to have normalized nonsensical exchanges, bereft of any genuine meaning. Real intention, real inquiry, real caring has slipped into the ether as we verbally […]
Becoming Your Authentic SelfMarch 21, 2019 - 12:50 pm
What does it mean for someone to be truly authentic? And how many people do you know actually fit that description? Do you feel that you’re authentic? Let’s take a look at what this word truly suggests and just what blocks us from achieving authenticity. Naturally, the word authenticity evokes an image of something pure […]