Tracey L. Malesa-Wheaton: Psychotherapist

ABOUT

Tracey L. Malesa-Wheaton

Psychotherapist

Tracey Malesa-Wheaton is a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) and member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and a member of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA).

She joins the team at Wellness Associates after having graduated at the top of her class from the Masters of Social Work Program at Indiana University in May of 2013. Tracey is passionate about matters of social justice and equality and prior to becoming a therapist she focused more than two decades of her professional life helping to neutralize the barriers faced by individuals living in poverty, persons struggling with mental health issues, and children and adults with special needs.

Most recently, Tracey worked at the Center for the Homeless where she completed two distinct practicums as a therapist intern; one working with homeless veterans and another working with the broader population of homeless individuals suffering from depression, anxiety, grief and loss, addiction, trauma and a host of other mental health concerns. Presently, Tracey’s practice at Wellness Associates focuses on individual therapy with adults.

Intimately familiar with the effects of trauma, Tracey works very naturally from a place of intuition and deep humanity through which she is able to help clients uncover, examine and understand their own emotional experiences in a safe and compassionate manner. Tracey utilizes an eclectic approach to therapy which draws upon the strengths of many different therapeutic traditions. Such traditions include but are not limited to Existential Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Cinematherapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Feminist Therapy, Logotherapy, Gestalt Therapy and Transpersonal Psychology.

By drawing upon these collective approaches Tracey is able to ply her trade according to the specific needs of the individual as opposed to the dictates of a singular tradition. Working from the humanist perspective, Tracey sees herself not as an authority, but rather as an absolute equal whose primary role is to act as a guide and illuminator on the client’s inward journey toward self-awareness and integral wholeness.

SKILLS AND EXPERTISE