Meet Our Team
At Embodied Relationships Counseling Center, we specialize in relationship, intimacy, and overall life wellness through embodied relational skill-building. Combining Somatic Psychotherapy, Couples Therapy, and Sexology, we are trained to support your whole relationship. We also offer more structured wellness coaching through a lifestyle-as-medicine approach.
Our goal is to help you create a deeply meaningful and embodied way of life together.
Melissa Walker
MA, LPC, CST, R-DMT
Founder, Director, Clinician, Supervisor
Melissa is a licensed Dance/Movement Psychotherapist and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist who specializes in intimacy and relationship therapy. A graduate of Naropa University in 2009, Melissa weaves together her Masters level training with additional training in Pragmatic/Experiential Therapy for Couples (PET-C), Sex Therapy, Psychodrama, and Authentic Movement. She is also certified in Somatic Archaeology and is a SomaSource LifeCycle Practitioner. Melissa is former adjunct faculty at Naropa University where she taught Counseling Ethics & Professional Orientation for 4 years.
Melissa has crafted the Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy (S-CST) model for working with clients. S-CST is a confluence of dance/movement therapy, contemplative practice, attachment styles, and sexology theories. This model integrates embodiment practices and holistic sex education with the interplay of arousal anatomy and the nervous system. S-CST supports the human tendency towards growth and complexity, toward a fully embodied experience and expression of the sexual self.
Her book, Whole-Body Sex: Somatic Sex Therapy and the Lost Language of the Erotic Body was published in January 2021 and received the AASECT book award for general audiences in 2023. Whole-Body Sex supports readers to craft a personally meaningful, consensual, and sexuality-affirming embodiment of self.
Anna Mayer
MA, LPC, R-DMT
Clinician & Supervisor
Anna is dedicated to supporting couples and individuals in deepening their intimacy through embodiment. Relationships and sexuality can be sources of great joy and expansion in our lives, yet also can be full of stuckness and pain. To help you move toward more authentic, joyful relating, Anna will draw from her Masters-level training in Somatic Counseling Psychology, as well as her clinical training in Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy and effective communication. While working together, you will use a blend of somatic, contemplative, person-centered, and sexology theories to support your growth.
Anna's approach is open-minded, sex-positive, and nonjudgmental. She is passionate about supporting people to find healing in all forms of relationships, including polyamorous and LGBTQIA relationships. Ultimately, Anna trusts you, her clients, to grow toward the sunlight. She believes in your capacity for healing and sees her job as helping you ‘clean the windows’ so you can find your way toward the light. By connecting with your innate wisdom, you can begin to come into fuller contact with what it means for you to be a vibrant, healthy, conscious co-creator of your intimate relationships.
Jenelle Thurston
MA, LPCC
Clinician
Jenelle is passionate about supporting couples and individuals create meaningful and connected relationships. She supports clients in developing foundations for thriving intimacy and empowers clients to practice helpful and loving communication--tools that will become innate through embodied learning. Attending to yourself and your partner, deepening understandings of each other, and repairing painful challenges that surface are essential for secure relating and part of our work together.
Jenelle's approach is warm and gentle yet direct, non-judgmental and curious. She trusts the process of unfolding and enjoys collaborating to discover what works for each of her clients' unique goals. She welcomes diverse relationship structures including non-monogamy and folks in the LGBTQ+ communities.
Jenelle applies her Masters-level Somatic Counseling Psychology degree as well as clinical training in the Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy model, which supports a holistic lens of sexuality. Additionally, Jenelle has training in Pragmatic/Experiential Therapy for Couples (PET-C). Jenelle will hold you accountable, offer psychoeducation and tools, but most of all, she will be present with you so you don't have to navigate the hard stuff alone.
James Rose, NBC-HWC
Health & Wellness Coach
James is a Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) who relies on evidence-based modalities to engage the wholeness in all of his clients. You can expect to be in the drivers seat as you navigate your goals through the plentiful seasons of your daily life. In a coaching relationship, each person receives an adaptive approach to their unique stage of change. Long term visions become short term goals, and you'll have the opportunity to link your values to your behaviors. As challenges arise, you can expect compassion, non-judgment, and to savor the experiment.
James earned his Bachelor of Science in Integrative Healthcare with a minor in Dietetics, and an emphasis in Men's Health at M. S. U. Denver. His work rests on the pillars of lifestyle medicine: nutritious, adequate and varied dietary patterns; enjoyable and sustainable movement; adaptive response to stressors; adequate and nourishing rest; authentic and positive relationships; and intentional connection to self and surroundings. Though trained in the most recent literature of these areas of study, he honors each individuals existing knowledge, especially in their own lives. You can expect to be provided with "just-in-time" information when needed, and to be given space to explore your expertise!
While James works with individuals of all genders, sexual orientations, and walks of life, he specializes in the field of men's health and masculinity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What primary services do you offer?
Our team offers relationship and sex therapy, consulting and supervision of other therapists, therapist trainings, workshops, coaching packages, and guest speaking.
Do you accept insurance?
We do not accept insurance and are exclusively self-pay. We can provide a Superbill for you to submit to your insurance for reimbursement if they cover out of network counseling services.
What are the rates of your services?
Our rates scale from $200 - $175 / 60 minute hour
Do you offer virtual or in-person counseling services?
We offer both in-person and virtual counseling.