Melissa Josue
I remember sitting across from a therapist, recounting the problems in my relationship at the time and earnestly asking her what was wrong with me. What she said I’ll never forget:
“There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re in an emotionally abusive relationship.”
For years, I was the woman who waited to be picked. Who over-gave. Who saw potential in men who weren’t available, and who confused emotional pain for being in love.
Even when I met someone who was actually demonstrative, affectionate, consistent, and kind, I could hardly trust those gestures. I pushed it away.
A book I came across asked: Does being in love mean being in pain? The notion clicked with devastating clarity. I had equated suffering with love. Through humbling inner work, I realized I had been playing not to lose instead of taking a stand for what really mattered to me.
Still, it was years before I truly absorbed:
“Your needs matter. You don’t have to betray yourself for love.”
That’s what I wish someone had told me …
And it’s what I now take a stand for in my purposeful work.
Our intimate relationships profoundly affect the quality and trajectory of our lives. When we live and love from the truth of who we are, our dating journey becomes a sacred path, a recreation, generative, grounded in deep purpose and authenticity.”
What I bring is not a formula. It’s a framework for getting so clear on who you are and what you
genuinely want that your dating path becomes less agonizing … and the path becomes truly
yours.
I’ve been coaching women through dating and relationships for more than a decade, most of them divorced, many more than once.
Melissa Josue is a coach, writer, and educator who has spent over a decade supporting women, many of them divorced, through the deeply personal work of dating with clarity, self-knowledge, and intention. She holds advanced training from the Relationship Coaching Institute in Relationship Coaching for Singles, certifications in stepfamily coaching, trauma-aware Transformational Coaching, and Master Practitioner NLP, and therapeutic writing training through the Center for Journal Therapy. She holds a journalism degree, spent two decades in nonprofit communications, is a longtime meditation student and practitioner, and is currently a PCC-level coaching candidate. She lives in California with two grown stepdaughters and two beautiful little boys.
Here at SAS, we know from our women’s work that when a Divorced Woman can step into a new relationship from a conscious, embodied place — self-informed and self-aware — the right relationship becomes inevitable.
She then starts dating from a place of being the chooser, not waiting to be chosen.
SAS for Women is delighted that Melissa Josue, with over a decade of experience teaching Conscious Dating, is leading our new, transformational program, Ziva’s Group, for women who want to understand themselves first and learn how to consciously date and connect with the right others moving forward in their new independent lives.
Ziva’s Group is an adaptation of the Conscious Dating® framework specifically for women navigating dating after divorce.
For more information on the program and to learn if Ziva might be right for you, write to smartsupport@sasforwomen.com
“I wish I had found Melissa and her work sooner…Going through this transformation, I feel like a flower coming to bloom. I see so much potential in myself, and I am now able to share it not only with my partner but also with my children, my family, and my friends. Working with Melissa has been life-changing for me, and I will be forever grateful.”
– Autumn
“Before working with Melissa, I was stressed, anxious, attached, and clingy…Melissa helped me onto the path I want to be on…And regarding my love life, I am calm, relaxed and enjoying every moment of it…
I feel like a GODDESS again!”
– Katie
“I could feel the impact of my work with you in my dating & relationships very early on. I now feel empowered instead of drained as I did before. Dating with my head and my heart is guiding me towards the relationship that I want…not a relationship where I settle for what I almost want.
I now know that I am not going to pass over what I’m looking for – I will know when I see it.”
– Elyse D.
“I came in with the focus on my relationship, but ended up walking away with the knowledge that I needed to focus on MYSELF first and foremost to get the relationship I wanted. Now I have definitely gained so much strength and a much better blueprint regarding the type of woman I want to be. Your compassion, support, and encouragement are truly priceless.”
– Amanda
“I really feel like all of the work we have done together helped me clarify my feelings regarding what was missing for me and what I really needed. Once it was clear to me that those things weren’t going to happen, it made breaking up a natural, and an easy‘ish’ decision. I felt surprisingly confident almost immediately after it ended that it was the right decision…I have been very honest with myself about what I really think and feel so I can move forward and have peace with my new reality.”
– Jessica