Guest Occupation: Psychotherapist



Guest Biography:

Dr. Melvin Lee Phillips, Jr. is currently employed in a group private practice, Capitol Hill Consortium for Counseling and Consultation in Washington, DC., where he treats chronic illness and sexual dysfunction. He is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Dr. Phillips has been in private practice for more than a decade, working with couples on sexuality after chronic illness. He has worked in several mental health and substance abuse treatment settings including outpatient community mental health, inpatient treatment, as well as  private practice.



He is a speaker and has lectured on topics including sexuality, chronic pain, preventative services, anxiety and stress management, caregiving stress, depression in the elderly, mindfulness and cognitive strategies for chronic pain, reclaiming sexuality for couples with chronic illness, ethical decision making, and the assessment of mental disorders.



He is the resident psychotherapist on Invisible Not Broken https://invisiblenotbroken.com/, a chronic illness podcast.

He has published in the Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, conducting a research study on LGBTQ-Affirmative Teaching at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Understanding Program Directors Views. He holds a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree in Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in Behavioral Health from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ.



In addition, Dr. Phillips holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from Norfolk State University and is an adjunct professor in the Master of Social Work Program with the School of Social Work at Western New Mexico University.



He is currently writing his first book, Sex & Love When You Are Sick, which helps couples overcome shame and the sexual limitations caused by illness and gives strategies to create and reclaim a sex life that works. Couples will learn how to acknowledge loss, cope with changes, and build a new relationship with their illness and each other. The book will help develop a “new normal” of partnership. He has been featured as a guest faculty member with Modern Sex Therapy Institutes and with the Integrative Sex Therapy Institute.