Melissa's Background:  

Melissa Lemons, PhD, LPCMH, is a licensed professional counselor of mental health, counselor educator, and pastoral counselor whose work integrates psychotherapy, spirituality, and attention to cultural and individual differences. With experience working with individuals, couples, families, and groups, she brings a relational and holistic perspective to her role as an instructor. Her teaching is shaped by decades of clinical practice, supervision, and work in higher education, as well as her commitment to meeting people where they are and helping them build resilient, meaningful connections in their personal and professional lives.

Melissa currently serves as an Assistant Professor at Wilmington University and is also a co-pastor at Unity Lutheran Church. In addition to teaching and supervising, she works as a spiritual director and clinician, drawing on an eclectic therapeutic approach that adapts to the needs and preferences of those she serves. Her areas of focus include relationships, anxiety, depression, spirituality, parenting, blended families, sexuality, and trauma, with particular sensitivity to cultural context, humor, curiosity, and compassion in the learning and therapeutic process.

She holds a PhD in Pastoral Counseling with a focus in Counselor Education and Supervision from Loyola University Maryland, a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Bowie State University, and a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology from the University of California, San Diego. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Yale University. Melissa’s professional formation reflects a deep respect for the whole person and a belief that effective counseling and education are grounded in authentic relationships, careful listening, and thoughtful integration of psychology and spirituality.


Content & Course Format:

The SIP training program is a multi-disciplinary, inter-spiritual, multi-racial community of persons gathered for education, connection, and formation in the work of spiritually integrated psychotherapy. It serves licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals (i.e., counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, pastoral counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, addiction specialists, and more), as well as graduate students in any of those disciplines who seek to explore the ways spirituality, religion, and the search for meaning influence their own lives and the lives of their clients.



For more on current trainings and the core curriculum click here.