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.
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 Professional Counselor, Dance/Movement Therapist, and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, specializing in intimacy and relationship therapy. A 2009 graduate of Naropa University's Masters in Somatic Counseling Psychology program, Melissa weaves together her training with Pragmatic/Experiential Therapy for Couples (PET-C), Sex Therapy, Psychodrama, Authentic Movement, and SomaSource 5Rhythms. Melissa is former adjunct faculty at Naropa University where she taught Counseling Ethics & Professional Orientation for 4 years.
Melissa is the author of Whole-Body Sex: Somatic Sex Therapy and the Lost Language of the Erotic Body which received the AASECT book award for general audiences in 2023. Whole-Body Sex presents her Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy (S-CST) model which integrates embodiment practices and holistic sex education with the interplay of arousal anatomy and the nervous system. S-CST supports your growth and refinement, allowing a more embodied experience and expression of your sexual self.
Melissa trains therapists and wellness practitioners in her holistic sexuality model in many different contexts. She believes that all clinicians can create a safe-enough space for clients to explore intimate relationships & sexuality in a digestible way, on their own terms, and at the pace of connection with themselves and connection with an intimate partner.
Melissa is also a post-breast cancer thriver and is passionate about supporting people during and post-treatment to reclaim their bodies and deepen their intimate relationships.
Anna Mayer
MA, LPC, R-DMT
Clinician & Supervisor
Anna loves working with people who feel uncertain and anxious in relationships, especially around intimacy, and she finds joy in helping them express themselves confidently. She especially enjoys working with those who give a lot to others – but who aren’t getting what they need – because she’s seen that for our relationships to thrive, our loved ones need us to be thriving too. Helping couples free themselves from painful stalemates around their different desires, sexual or emotional, is one of things Anna loves about her work. She is especially passionate about helping people connect to their desires, clearly and confidently express those to the people they love, and learn to trust themselves.
Anna has been working with individuals and couples on relationship and sexuality concerns since 2017 and with trauma and mood disorders since 2013. During graduate school she worked with adolescents and young adults recovering from substance abuse, and in her clinical internship, she ran DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) groups at an intensive outpatient hospital setting. After earning her master’s degree in Somatic Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Dance/Movement Therapy, from Naropa University, Anna began her work with Embodied Relationships Counseling Center. Through ERCC she received comprehensive training to specialize in Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy (S-CST), and she is now the Center’s clinical supervisor for ERCC therapists. Each year she co-presents with Melissa Walker at national conferences on the intersection between somatic therapy and sex therapy, she is a Founding Training Assistant with Embodied Relationships Training Center, and she regularly offer couples intimacy workshops to the public. Anna’s additional training is extensive, and includes training in somatic trauma resolution techniques, navigating attachment styles, and working with non-monogamous, queer, trans, nonbinary, and kinky clients.
Jenelle Thurston
MA, LPC
Clinician
Jenelle works with individuals and couples who are seeking more authenticity, connection, and freedom in their relationships and intimate lives. As a somatic therapist, she brings a body-based, trauma-informed approach to help clients deepen self-awareness, explore sexuality with curiosity and safety, and build nervous system regulation as a foundation for trust and intimacy. Whether you're navigating desire discrepancies, communication breakdowns, healing from infidelity, or exploring non-monogamy, Jenelle offers a grounded, affirming space where all parts of you are welcome.
Jenelle believes intimacy, pleasure, and connection are deeply human needs—and yet, they're often where we carry the most shame and confusion. She is passionate about helping people reconnect with their values, rewrite limiting narratives around sex and relationships, and move toward more integrated, empowered ways of being.
Jenelle holds a Master’s degree in Somatic Counseling Psychology from Naropa University and has advanced clinical training in the Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy model, which offers a holistic, body-centered lens on sexuality and relational healing. She has also trained in Pragmatic/Experiential Therapy for Couples (PET-C), a dynamic approach that supports partners in shifting patterns and building emotional resilience together. She holds training and experience as a practitioner of Authentic Movement and facilitator of yoga, breathwork and mindfulness which weaves into her lens. In client work, she offers psychoeducation, practical tools, and compassionate accountability—but most importantly, she'll be fully present with you, helping you recognize and shift the patterns that keep you stuck, so you can create more space for choice, connection, and growth.
Jenelle welcomes clients of all identities and relationship structures, including queer, LGBTQ+, and non-monogamous individuals and partnerships. Her practice is sex-positive, shame-resilient, and rooted in the belief that healing happens when we show up fully—body, mind, and heart.
Jaycee Cole
MA, LPCC
Clinician
Jaycee supports couples and individuals in building deeper intimacy, emotional resilience, and authentic connection in their relationships. Her work focuses on the skills that make relationships thrive—like emotional regulation, repair after rupture, and expressing needs with clarity and care. She is especially passionate about helping clients move through patterns of disconnection, shutdown, or conflict, and into relationships that feel secure, alive, and nourishing.
Jaycee draws on training in Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy, Rites of Passage, EMDR, and perinatal mental health to offer a body-based, trauma-informed approach to relational healing. Her style is warm, grounded, and collaborative—attuned to the subtle dynamics of intimacy and the nervous system. With a background as an executive coach, she brings over seven years of experience helping individuals step into leadership in their lives and co-leadership in their partnerships.
Jaycee holds a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a focus in Transpersonal Wilderness Therapy from Naropa University, a BS in Human Physiology and Health Sciences, and is a Certified Professional Coach through the Co-Active Training Institute and the International Coaching Federation.
She welcomes clients of all genders and relationship structures, and specializes in working with couples in transition—including marriage commitments, new parents, and those navigating the evolution of long-term partnership.
Frequently Asked Questions
What primary services do you offer?
Our team offers couples therapy, relationship and sex therapy in weekly sessions or intensives, consulting and supervision of other therapists, therapist trainings, workshops, 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?
Melissa Walker $230/60 minutes
Anna Mayer $215/60 minutes
Jenelle Thurston $185/60 minutes
Jaycee Cole $180/60 minutes
Do you offer virtual or in-person counseling services?
We offer both in-person and virtual counseling.