Elizabeth Dickman, MSW, LICSW

The clients I serve are feeling stuck and overwhelmed by something in their life, whether it's how they are managing their anxiety and depression symptoms, the impact of exposure to trauma, parenting stressors, or lingering issues with their family of origin. My clients have gathered the courage to reach out and are ready to take the next step. For some that step is simply allowing themselves to experience a safe space, and for others, they are eager to start learning about themselves and integrate new skills to help them feel steady and thrive. Each one is on their own path and I am here to meet them where they're at. My strength as a therapist is providing clients with an emotional and mental space that allows them to be both vulnerable and empowered to create change. I draw from a person-centered approach coupled with CBT and attachment work to provide clients with both the feeling of their own value and the opportunity to learn and use new skills. Areas of Practice: FAMILY OF ORIGIN WORK: Many of us have unresolved hurts rooted in our relationships with our caregivers while growing up. This can impact us in a plethora of ways from how we trust others, interact in our current relationships, and think and feel about ourselves. Therapy can be a productive way to explore and integrate these experiences in order to improve our relationship with ourselves and those we care about. PARENTING SUPPORT: Many of us enter into our role as parents full of hope and love and along the way we experience unexpected challenges. For many others becoming parents can be wrought with stress. Whether it is difficulty forming or supporting your bond with your child, managing your children’s behaviors, and/or having a difficult time managing expectations from outside sources, therapy can help you build skills and confidence in your ability as a parent and support your loving relationship with your child(ren). DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY: Many of us experience either periods of depression and anxiety symptoms that become harder to manage. Depression can look a little different for each person and often involves experiencing changes to your mood (feeling sad, irritable, angry), sleep patterns (sleeping more or having difficulty sleeping), eating patterns (loss of appetite, eating more than usual), and losing interest in activities we typically enjoy. Anxiety also manifests itself in both emotional and physical unease. For many it can leave us feeling nervous or tense, as well as increasing our heart rate and breath, interfering with concentration, and making it difficult to sleep. Therapy can help you recognize your symptoms and triggers, as well as, teach you skills to better handle your symptoms to reduce the impact on your daily life. TRAUMA AND VICARIOUS TRAUMA: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the chances of exposure to trauma (experiencing or witnessing a life threatening event) or vicarious trauma (compassion fatigue), especially for frontline workers who have faced the ongoing burden of trading on their own safety to meet their calling to help others. This ongoing exposure can lead to anxiousness, feeling numb or disassociated, difficulty regulating mood, loss of a sense of meaning, difficulty in relationships, and using destructive coping mechanisms (increased substance use, impulsive behaviors, isolation, eating to numb). Therapy can help you process your experiences, teach new tools, and support you in utilizing positive coping mechanisms that can mitigate your symptoms and, with time, possibly lead you to experiencing vicarious resilience and compassion satisfaction. If you find that you identify with any of these descriptions or have questions about my possible fit with you as a therapist, please feel free to call for a free 10 minute introduction and to schedule your first appointment. I am currently scheduling in person appointments on Mondays and Thursdays. Telehealth appointments are scheduled for Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Online scheduling for both initial appointments and ongoing appointments is available for sessions scheduled between 9am-2pm through the "Request Appointment" option at the top of this page. If appointment times are needed outside of that time frame please call, (360) 609-5878, to discuss options.