No zero star option available. Too bad. Funny to see Melissa Reiner advertising herself as a Newport Beach business. When my family had the misfortune of dealing with her she claimed to be in Irvine. Things change but that wouldn't be the only piece of outright false claim she made. (When we first spoke she commiserated over our situation and she claimed, as a "single parent" that she had a special understanding to offer my family. At our only appointment she wore a wedding ring and spoke often about struggles she and her husband had raising their family. Should have been more of a red flag.) We had a single session with my kids who have autism spectrum and emotional dis l-regulation diagnoses respectively. We met at their grandmother's home as a neutral ground as their mom and I are no longer together. An important detail is that their grandmother wrote Ms. Reiner a check and we set a follow up appointment at my home. In the weeks between the kids left town with their mom and I cancelled, by phone, the appointment. Ms. Reiner showed up anyway and then left without any appointment taking place. The short version is that a few weeks later Ms. Reiner sued my mom, not her client, for the cancelled appointment. She has refused all requests to provide any signed contract as a basis for her suit. She sent the sheriffs to mom's (79 and recovering from surgery) to serve her bogus suit. My opinion is that since she had mom's bank details she thought she'd be able to harass her through collections. She then sent a demand for over triple the cost of the cancelled appointment (claiming costs and "interest") and is now trying to get mom's bank to pay her. Dirty business in my opinion. She will never come near my children, or any of my family, ever again. As far as her actual service? If you need someone to come by and speak condescendingly to your kids, maybe Askmelissanow is for you. In my opinion, people who seek to take money, unearned, from families with special needs kids ought to be called out. read more

We had an incredible experience with Melissa. She not only helped our 5 year old daughter learn how to express herself confidently but she also helped my husband and I parent as a team. It has been invaluable. Our daughter enjoyed her time with Melissa and I know Melissa will be there for our family as someone we can depend on if something else comes up down the road. Melissa is more worth it! read more

When I think of Melissa, it makes me cry. I am so damn grateful to this woman. Melissa has developed a method of assisting with multiple learning challenges. It is tough to incorporate her philosophy. The reason why is because the basis of it is to expose your child to different styles of learning and understanding, so that they don't get so comfy in one style or mannerism, that they are then too disrupted emotionally to advance within a new setting. Ultimately, her philosophy is based on resilience. Don't coddle a child - challenge them, love them, and help them to be resilient, especially in learning situations that don't favor their strengths. My son has seen Melissa for almost a year now and his development could not be better. He has a much easier time adapting to new situations, he is more curious, and he is kind and emphatic towards other children. When you first start incorporating Melissa's philosophies, it will be tough because most children will likely fight against it and even cry - but as long as you hug them and show they're loved, Melissa's principles will bring the best out of your child - you can count on that. She has my highest recommendation. read more

Our experience with Melissa has been life changing . We reached out for help with my 6 year old. We needed a better plan and approach to dealing with my daughters inability to tolerate change and participate productively with the family. Melissa began working with us at end of last year and within a couple of months we began to see the improvement and I can say that four months in we are at a place that We started to enjoy my interaction with my child and my child is happier and the aggression has gone. We are walking proof that Melissa's approach works. Melissa is a great listener and works with the family and from the minute we met her she has been flexible and accommodating to our changing needs. She is a true team player and my daughters even with all the hard work we did adore Melissa! read more

Melissa has been working with our son for a little over two months... and I can not say enough amazing compliments about Melissa and her willingness to help our family. Melissa has been an outstanding addition to our autism support efforts for our son. Her attitude, willingness, kindness and honest approach have truly helped our son, and we have only begun with her. With the implementation of her suggestions and advice, we are already starting to see progress. Not only is she incredibly professional, but she has a warm heart and beautiful attitude towards life. I would highly recommend Melissa and Bridging Pathways!! read more

There are not enough positive adjectives to apply towards our incredible, life-changing experience with Bridging Pathways. Working with Melissa has been a complete game changer for our family and we still can't believe how the simple changes we've incorporated in our day-to-day communication has had such an immediate and impactful effect. To anyone who is considering working with BP, do yourself and your family a favor and do it!! We look forward to our continued work with Melissa and seeing what bridge we cross next !! read more

My family has been working with Bridging Pathways over the past year and the results have been invaluable. Our 6 year old son has struggled with losing and competitiveness and would completely fall apart emotionally, but after just a few sessions he was able to express himself from an emotionally intelligent place instead of breaking down. Bridging Pathways works with the entire family so the issues are approached holistically, and everyone is on the same page and involved with the process. We now feel confident enough to handle each situation as it comes up and are able to resolve things quickly as a family. I cannot express our gratitude for the work we have done with Bridging Pathways, and I have referred several friends who have all felt the same way. I have never had a therapist tell me that I no longer needed them! I recommend Bridging Pathways whole heartedly and am so thankful for a friend sending our family there a year ago. read more

Melissa Reiner helped our son and our family when we were desperate. She gave us realistic strategies for managing his behavior and taught him to begin to self-correct. He is a different kid now, in a million positive ways. We had tried several different kinds of therapies over several years and nothing was helping. Melissa is the only behavioral therapist that I would recommend to anyone. read more

Melissa is a total pro. She has helped us with our 2 oldest boys over the last couple of years and her advice and guidance has proven invaluable. She connects immediately to children and can gain access to their thoughts and emotions that parents often cannot. She offers a framework for parents to work within taking the guesswork out of disciplining. I cannot sing her praises enough! read more

I can not say enough good things about Melissa Reiner. In just one year we have seen so much growth with our son. I feel confident that no other therapist could have worked with us as a family to achieve this level of progress in such an accessible manner. She has been more than a therapist having gone above and beyond if we had questions or if there was an issue at school or at home Melissa always came through and has been a rock for the entire family. Communication issues, anxiety, processing, sibling rivalry, depression, anger management, picky eaters - Melissa has a proactive strategy for almost any issue you can think of and the results are amazing. read more

I have nothing but wonderful things to share about Melissa. As an educator specializing in teaching students with learning and behavioral challenges, I thought I knew a lot about managing the difficulties in my own home. Before finding Melissa, I tried multiple positive behavioral approaches and reward systems to increase positive outcomes with my strong willed child, but most would work for a short time and eventually I would be seeking a new strategy. My husband and I had a hard time coming to an agreement about how to appropriately interact with our son due to my educational experience and his consideration of expected behavior of a six year old. Melissa was able to bridge the gap between my husband and I by modeling the RDI strategies in our home so that we could regain our son's trust, respect and build open communication by working through challenges together. Her caring demeanor and knowledge of developmental norms helped our family return to peaceful exchanges as well as deescalating the frustrations that we had been feeling over my son's disruptive behavior prior to her interventions. I am forever grateful for her support and guidance. read more