Melanie is a registered counsellor, life coach, corporate trainer, lecturer, and energy healer from Malaysia. She has completed her Bachelors in Psychology and Masters in Counselling from HELP University, Malaysia. During her clinical work as a counsellor, she also had the opportunity to expand her expertise into energy healing, particularly in Theta Healing®, Usui Reiki, and sound healing. Melanie expanded her expertise into coaching about a year ago as she wanted to acquire additional tools and skills that would complement her counselling and healing work.
As quoted from Melanie, “Whenever people ask me what I truly do, I say that I am a healer and I wear many hats to facilitate the healing process.”
With such a fascinating profile, our team at MindFi thought that we couldn’t miss this opportunity to get to know Melanie better and hopefully, benefit from her viewpoint in the subject matter of mental health and counselling too.
We’ve asked Melanie a couple of personal questions;
How did you get into the field of counselling?
It was due to personal circumstances. When I was young, I love to observe and listen to people. This ability came in handy when some of my family members were diagnosed with mental illness. I decided to study counselling and psychology to understand them better. Little did I know that it was meant to be. At the end of the day, it is a calling for me because it comes so naturally to me like breathing.
What excites you about your work as a counsellor?
I get to witness my client’s ability to heal themselves. In every session, I am blessed to be able to hold space for my clients as they discover more about themselves. This is my main drive to show up for every session irrespective of the issues that I face. Deep down, I know that I am making a difference as a counsellor.
What do you think is a common misconception people have about counselling?
The biggest misconception is that people go to counselling when they are in the verge of a meltdown. If everything is fine and dandy, people think that you do not need to see a counsellor.
I view counselling as a preventive measure. One of my clients phrased it perfectly – counselling is like going for a maintenance service for yourself.
Since change is a constant factor in life, counselling acts as a buffer to support and strengthen our internal systems to flow through these changes with ease and grace.
What is the biggest challenge being a counsellor?
The most challenging thing about being a counsellor is for me to accept that people are not ready to heal and that is their choice. I had many instances in my practice that I tried to save my clients from their own actions. In the end, it did injustice to both my clients and I because it is not my journey in the first place. I am grateful for these lessons as it has shaped me to who I am as a counsellor and person today.
What are your views about mental health?
Mental health is part of the equation of being whole and complete. The ancient teachers and sages knew the importance of mental health in their books. They have taught us about the power of thought and its impact if it is mismanaged. However, mental health can only exist in the presence of physical health. There is balance and harmony in these aspects. So, I believe that it is time for mental health to be seen as an important component of physical health and vice versa.
What do you think people should do more of, for good mental health and wellbeing?
Just be yourself. How often do we do something out of obligations at the expense of who we truly are? When we go against our essence, we are misaligned. Misalignment in our lives shows up as imbalances in our physical and mental health.
So, do something that brings joy to your life. It does not need to be an achievement for it to be effective. If it makes you happy in a healthy way, then you are on your way in creating a solid foundation for good mental health and wellbeing.
Have you experienced a moment of breakthrough?
My moment of breakthrough was on the first time when I discovered that I could truly love myself unconditionally.
I was going through a phase of healing my issues on my physical appearances, self-esteem, and self-worth. I was bullied for my physical appearances for as long as I can remember. Although I have forgiven the people who made unkind comments towards me, I was not able to fully love myself completely for who I am.
One day, I was guided to just be and listen to my body. As I focused right to the individual cells in my body, suddenly I felt an immense sense of joy and laughter that bubbled into my heart. At that moment, I realized that every cell in my body is alive and they are doing their best to keep me alive. So, how can I hate something that is keeping me alive?
Since then, I let go of the negativity about my body and fully embraced my body as my own. It cascaded down to all aspects of myself such as my strengths, areas of improvement and parts of myself that are waiting to be loved by me.
What is your go-to solace in stressful or challenging times?
I always go back to my spirituality. When I know that I am connected to the energy that moves in all things and that the solution is already there, I can then focus on calming my mind and body. When I know that I am the co-creator of my reality with the Creator of All That Is, I know that it is just a moment in time and things can change instantly.
This foundation of trust, faith, belief, and conviction is created through meditation, self-reflection, and acts of self-love. There were many moments in my life when I was about to give up. However, there is a flame in my heart that refuses to stop burning with the knowingness that good times are always there for me.
So, I ask for an extra dose of courage and bravery to see through the challenging times and take the next step forward. This formula has helped me weather through the roughest storms in my life.
What do you specialize in?
I specialize in trauma, stress management, burnout, anxiety, and depression. I went through my own healing process in these topics, so I have a level of understanding that only experience can provide.
The common theme in these topics can be simplified into one question – “Do you feel safe living in your human body?”.
We are living in a world that is filled with information that is being processed in speeds beyond comprehension. However, this can be unkind to our human bodies. I view chronic stress, trauma and burnout as signs of imbalance between body, mind and spirit. So, I emphasize a lot of the rebalancing and integration of these aspects in order for my clients to thrive in their lives.
What is a key message that you’d like to share with our readers?
Love yourself more and love yourself well.
You matter more than you think, feel, and know. Your presence has made an impact in other people’s lives. So, be kind to yourself as you move forward in your next stage of your life.
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Melanie empowers people to transform limiting beliefs and rediscover themselves. She believes that we all have within us what we need to heal ourselves. If you’d like to connect with Melanie, click on https://mindfi.page.link/s4H6 (for mobile viewers)
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