The Advocates / Melissa Boley
Rainbow® Sandals Foundation recently donated to The Advocates located in Hailey, Idaho. Melissa Boley (pictured on the left) works through the Advocates helping women of domestic violence.
Melissa Boley is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Intern Supervisor in the State of Idaho. She began her social service career in 1978 as an undergraduate and completed her Masters in Counseling Psychology in 1986.
Melissa has worked in many mental health settings from wilderness therapy programs with Incarcerated youth, domestic violence shelters, group homes, crisis residential centers, and community mental health clinics across the United States.
She began her private practice in Ketchum, Idaho in 1990. Melissa specializes in trauma and holds advanced post graduate certifications from The Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute, the EMDR Trauma Institute, and The Trauma Resource Institute.
She is a Senior Faculty, Facilitator, and Consultant for The Trauma Resource Institute. She has taught trauma work both nationally and internationally in Nepal, the Philippines and Serbia. The work with The Trauma Resource Institute in the Philippines was featured in 2015 on PBS with Lisa LIng on ” Life OnThe Line.”
Melissa is an advanced teaching assistant with The Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute. Melissa has been involved with Equine therapy for over 8 years. Her first training as a participant was with Leif Hallberg, understanding the evolution equine therapies and the differences between modalities. She helped design and run wellness retreats for veterans with Johnny Urrutia, founder of the REBoot program, using equine with Egala, The Community Resiliency Model and EMDR.
In 2019, Melissa attended a 5 day workshop that utilized The Poly Vagal theory in equine therapy presented by Dr Rebecca Bailey and Linda Kohanov. Melissa is passionate about the effects of trauma on the nervous system and teaching wellness skills to return to balance and resiliency in body, mind, and spirit.