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✦ Meet Your Therapist

Hi, I'm Melissa Marris.
I'm an OT who gets it.

I know what it feels like to spend years pushing through a world that wasn't built for your brain — and I know what it feels like to finally start living in a way that actually fits. That's the work we do together at Inner Reach. I bring both professional training and my own lived experience of neurodivergence and trauma to everything I do.

OTR/L Coaching 4 Years OT Experience 17 Years Studying Mental Health A Lifetime of Lived Experience AuDHD Trauma Lived Experience Chronic Illness Lived Experience Telehealth Connecticut ✦ Massachusetts ✦ Vermont ✦ Maine
Melissa, OTR/L — Inner Reach Therapeutics
Melissa Marris
OTR/L · Inner Reach Therapeutics

A journey of 15 years in the making.

My path to this work started in 2009, when I began studying mental health. I was drawn to understanding how people work — how the mind, the nervous system, and daily life all connect. After years in that world, I saw up close just how broken our mental health system often is — how behaviorally focused, how deficit-driven, how little space it left for people to just be themselves.

I entered the OT field in 2022, looking for something different. Then my own AuDHD diagnosis arrived — and everything shifted. What followed was a deep personal journey of unmasking, of learning how my own sensory system works, of processing how trauma had shaped my nervous system, and of building a life around accommodations that actually support me rather than forcing performance.

That experience fundamentally changed how I practice. I left behind the behavioral, compliance-based models I'd seen cause so much harm and built something different — an approach that treats neurological and psychological difference as meaningful information, not a problem to be corrected. I started asking better questions. Not "how do we fix this?" but "what does this person need to thrive as exactly who they are?"

Why I started Inner Reach Therapeutics

I wanted to create a practice where neurodivergent clients — whether newly diagnosed, self-identified, or still figuring it out — could receive OT that starts with deep respect for who they are.

A space where masking isn't the goal. Where sensory needs are taken seriously. Where you get to decide what a good life looks like for you — and we build a plan around that.

Inner Resilience, Outer Brilliance isn't just a tagline. It's what I believe every neurodivergent person already has inside them.

What I Believe

The values that guide every session

🧠
Neurological difference is not a disorder

Autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, traumatized, depressed, bipolar, brain-injured — any brain that works differently is a whole brain. My job is never to make you more neurotypical — it's to help you live well as you are.

🎯
You set the goals

I don't have a predetermined vision of what your life should look like. You tell me what matters, what's getting in the way, and what change would mean to you.

🌊
Sensory needs are real and valid

Sensory processing differences aren't quirks or overreactions. They're meaningful neurological patterns that deserve to be understood and honored.

🛡️
Trauma-informed always

Many neurodivergent people carry significant trauma — from systems that didn't understand them, from years of masking, from the world not fitting. I bring both professional training and personal understanding to this.

💬
All communication is valid

AAC, written communication, low-verbal sessions — every way you communicate is welcome here. You never have to mask your communication style with me.

🤝
Lived experience matters

As an AuDHD OT with my own lived experience of neurodivergence and trauma, I bring more than clinical training to this work. I'm not just an observer — I've walked a version of this path.

An accommodating approach to OT

My style is collaborative, flexible, and deeply client-led. Sessions look different for everyone — because everyone is different.

1
We start with deep listening
Before any goals or plans, I want to understand your world — what a typical day feels like, what's hard, what lights you up, and what you want more of.
2
We identify patterns, not problems
Through occupational profiling, we map your sensory, cognitive, and daily living patterns — looking for information, not deficits.
3
We build around your life
Every strategy, tool, and support is chosen because it fits you — your environment, your energy, your priorities.
4
We check in and adjust
Nothing is set in stone. If something isn't working, we change it. This is your therapy — it should always fit.

"I work with people to identify what they'd like to see change in their lives — and then I do everything I can to help make that possible, on their terms."

— Melissa, OTR/L

What to expect in sessions:

  • ✦ No pressure to perform or mask
  • ✦ Flexible pacing — you set the tempo
  • ✦ Telehealth from your own environment
  • ✦ Superbills provided for insurance reimbursement
  • ✦ Sessions available in CT, MA, VT & ME
  • ✦ Coaching available in any state

Ready to work with someone who truly gets it?

Book a free 15-minute consult — no pressure, no commitment, just a conversation.

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