Melissa Benintendi, MA, LPC is the Owner and Senior Trainer at The Body in Mind in Springfield, Missouri. With nearly two decades of clinical experience, she specializes in treating trauma, PTSD, and dissociative disorders using EMDR and somatic therapies. Melissa leads individual and group therapy intensives and retreats, provides private therapy to individuals and couples, and trains clinicians across the country through EMDR Basic Trainings, advanced workshops, and certification consultation. She is also a senior trainer in continued partnership with Beyond Healing Institute.

From 2016 to 2025, Melissa served as Director of Clinical Embodiment at Beyond Healing Center and Institute, where she developed integrated EMDR and somatic therapy models and co-created the widely respected podcasts Notice That – An EMDR Podcast and Beyond Trauma. She is an EMDRIA-approved consultant and trainer, a doctoral student in Integral and Transpersonal Psychology at CIIS, and an adjunct professor at Evangel University. Melissa is known for her compassionate teaching style, deep clinical insight, and unwavering dedication to helping therapists bring embodiment and presence to the heart of trauma healing.