Hi, I'm Melba—
I'm a Licensed Clinical Marriage & Family Therapist and founder of this therapy practice.
I think the most important thing to know about me is that I am deeply invested.
For years, I've personally wrestled with a question: what happens when we stop adapting to systems that drain us and start reshaping those systems from within?
I've tried many iterations of answering it— only to find myself burning out, self-abandoning, and taking on more than my fair share of responsibility — through which I've learned that transformation can't be forced through urgency or overextension.
Rising Tide Therapy is born from that learning. This work emphasizes conscious movement within life's currents, not against them. Like "a rising tide lifts all boats," personal transformation contributes to structural change, changing the conditions for everyone around you, from the ground up. That's not a side effect. That's the point. Change is understood as incremental and relational rather than heroic, while also having the depth and significance to alter the conditions of families, communities, and future generations.
Radical Mutuality
Rising Tide Therapy is built on an ethos of radical mutuality—a profound, egalitarian form of kinship that eliminates "us vs. them" mentalities and fosters deep connection without hierarchy.
Radical mutuality means working from a foundation of common humanity, shared vulnerability, and interdependence rather than saviorism, paternalism, or competition. Success here is mutual. The work depends on shared effort, transparency, and genuine partnership, with everyone as an active participant rather than a passive recipient of care.
This practice rejects the idea that individual wellbeing can be separated from collective wellbeing. Your healing is tied to the community, and therapy has the potential to become part of a larger movement toward social transformation—creating and sustaining relationships that cut across ideological, class, and racial divides.
Therapy is approached as something done with clients rather than to them. This is radical solidarity in practice: meaningful relationships over transactions, mutual learning over expert-to-patient dynamics, and cooperative growth over individual achievement.
Our Session Will Be
Systems-Informed
Rather than focusing solely on symptom reduction, therapy attends to the relational and structural conditions that influence how distress develops and persists. This perspective allows clients to make sense of their experiences with greater clarity and compassion.
Collaborative
Therapy at Rising Tide is collaborative, paced, and oriented toward sustainable change. Sessions emphasize reflection, dialogue, and integration over urgency or performance. Change is understood as a process that is often nonlinear and constrained by real-world realities.
Integrative
The practice draws from family systems theory, parts-based work, psychodynamic and attachment-informed perspectives, and trauma-aware practices. Modalities are selected based on each client's needs and stage of therapy.
Further Details
Relational and Transparent
The therapeutic relationship itself is considered an essential part of the work. Sessions are structured to be transparent and relational, with clear boundaries and mutual accountability. Clients are invited to engage actively, ask questions, and name when something feels misaligned.
Self-Leadership and Integration
A central focus of the work is the development of self-leadership. Clients are supported in learning to listen to their internal signals—emotional responses, relational patterns, and bodily cues—and to use this information to guide decisions in ways that are more aligned and sustainable.
Pacing as a Clinical Value
Pacing and sustainability are treated as clinical values. Sessions are designed to support meaningful work without overwhelm, and to respect both client and clinician capacity. Limits around time, frequency, and scope are understood as structures that make depth and consistency possible.
Collective Care Model
Radical mutuality extends to how this practice approaches access. Rising Tide uses a collective care model where some clients voluntarily pay a Collective Care rate (130% of standard fee) to subsidize reduced-rate sessions for community members facing financial barriers.
This rate is intended for individuals with financial abundance, wealth, generational resources, or significant disposable income. It is not a premium tier—it is a solidarity commitment that helps fund accessible mental health care. This model recognizes our interdependence and that collective wellbeing requires shared responsibility.
About the Practice Structure
All services are provided by a therapist licensed with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. Rising Tide Therapy operates as Rising Tide Family Therapy, a Professional Corporation in California registered to Melba Mathew, LMFT #115377.
What this means for you:
- Verified Professionalism: The practice can only be owned and operated by licensed mental health professionals, ensuring clinical decisions are made by qualified individuals.
- Accountability: Registration with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences provides a clear path for accountability if concerns about professional conduct arise.
- Continuity of Care: The corporate structure supports continuity of care and professional accountability.