Melody Anderson

Melody Anderson has led a vibrant life packed with various careers and experiences. Ms. Anderson is a Licensed Certified Social Worker (L.C.S.W.) in New York and California. As the result of a long and successful career in the media, she has blended her therapeutic wisdom with her on-air skills. Ms. Anderson received her Honors Bachelor Degree in Journalism in Canada. While still in school, she paid her tuition by working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a radio journalist. She also established herself as a travel writer in New Zealand and was the first woman in Australia to present the news on national radio. Following her journalism career, Ms. Anderson studied acting and established a 15-year career on stage and in television and film. She then wrote the short film “Night Magic,” which opened at film festivals around the world. She also began to study painting during this time and has sold her work to several American collectors. Ms. Anderson continued to search for more challenges in her life and made the decision to leave the bright lights of Hollywood for the academic halls of New York University. She received her Masters in Social Work and has since devoted her life to help individuals, couples and families find relief from their psychic pain. Ms. Anderson specializes in the treatment of trauma, substance abuse, family dysfunction and couple distress. Ms. Anderson was hired by Hazelden New York, a residential substance-abuse program in Manhattan, to create and coordinate the “Family & Friends Program” and the “Intensive Out-Patient Program (IOP).” Whether working as a journalist, actor, screenwriter, painter and/or therapist, Ms. Anderson has realized her passion as a communicator. During her years at Hazelden, Ms. Anderson created a free lecture series on substance abuse for those in Manhattan unable to afford the clinic. Ms. Anderson elevated her presentations to an academic status when she spoke at The International Council on Alcoholism and Addictions in Malta. She is currently working with the UCLA-Extension Program to present a workshop to health care professionals about addiction treatment. Ms. Anderson also lectured to 2nd and 3rd year medical residents attending Cornell Medical School, The New York Alcoholism Council and Hazelden New York’s Physician in Residence Program. She also lectured to social work students at other New York State universities. Continuing her outreach into the community, Ms. Anderson has made presentations to the teachers and administrators in the New York City Catholic Schools on methods to best cope with substance-abusing students. She became a well-known speaker at St. James Episcopal Church in Manhattan and St. Paul’s Church in Connecticut, covering such topics as how to improve family and couple communication, how to ‘spiritually’ parent your child and tools for child rearing. Her favorite lecture topic is “Surviving Your Teens Without Serving Time!” Ms. Anderson’s most recently presented a lecture on Dual-Diagnosis in May 2012 for NAMI (Than National Alliance Fri the Mentally Ill). As a result of her successful reputation as a public speaker, media outlets regularly contacted Ms. Anderson to share her expertise on-air. The academy-award winning director Robert Zemeckis, asked Ms. Anderson to consult and appear in his ShowTime documentary about substance abuse, “The Pursuit Of Happiness.” Hazelden invited her to discuss families and addictions on their promotional video. Ms. Anderson has been a guest on “CBS Morning,” “The Leon Charney Report,” CBS-Radio and “The Bill Mazur Show.” Ms. Anderson then created, wrote and produced “A New Day,” a call-in therapy show on WWRL, a New York City radio station. In her ever-expanding media career, Ms. Anderson is currently writing “SmarterLove: Keeping Kids Sober,” a guide for those parents, teachers, therapists and caregivers who have contact with children suffering with substance abuse. Ms. Anderson currently has a private practice in New York and Los Angeles, facilitates therapy groups and provides staff supervision at several treatment centers in Los Angeles. Her goal is to replicate her New York radio show in The Southland. Now ready for prime time, Melody Anderson, L.C.S.W, is a valuable media resource to inform, enlighten and entertain any audience on the various joys and difficulties of the human experience.

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