Elaine Klionsky

I work with adults, college age and up. Clients come to me with a wide variety of issues such as anxiety, depression, self-destructive behaviors, and relationship issues, etc. My focus is on helping people know themselves so they can make the changes necessary to achieve their goals. More specifically, I help clients identify their "wants" and "needs" along with the internal and external changes necessary to have more of both. While evaluating goals, it's important to acknowledge the realistic obstacles and limitations in our circumstances. It is, of course, often more critical to look at ourselves and how we avoid, dismiss, ignore, and subvert the opportunities for improvement that come are way. Clients often feel a great relief and a sense of empowerment in learning about the "blind spots" that have inhibited their journey. Once armed with these insights, clients are now able to develop the qualities necessary to enact life changes including tolerance for appropriate levels of risk, disappointment, and frustration. Clients then move toward expanding the qualities necessary to to tolerating beneficial changes (which may include guilt) such as the stretch to accommodate a sense of internal satisfaction, happiness, joy and contentment. Psychotherapy like all productive endeavors involves work. While clients often experience our therapy sessions as a process of which gives them relief, autonomy, lightens one's burden and enables creativity, therapy can be uncomfortable. One may recount and relive uncomfortable memories, reviews incidents which provoked shame or guilt, and share unwanted or troubling behaviors that one want to change. My approach focuses on honesty mixed with compassion and acceptance Because I work hard to establish a productive alliance and a working relationship; that is, one based on mutual trust and respect, the painful parts of therapy are shouldered together. I consider it an honor to meet, get to know, and hear the stories of my clients. I look forward to working with clients and accompanying them on their journey of self-discovery and change. Voted by Washingtonian Magazine: A Best Therapist