Elizabeth Starnes (She/Her)
Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC-S, ATR-BC®, REAT
Online in Texas
(Online Only)
I work with adults navigating trauma and PTSD, anxiety, grief, relationship concerns, and life transitions. My approach is warm, person-centered, trauma-informed, and attentive to the ways experiences are held in the body. Along with conversation, we may use art, visual journaling, writing, movement, metaphor, or other creative practices to explore what can be difficult to express in words. No artistic ability or experience is needed.
Together, we can, at your own pace, explore how past experiences continue to shape your thoughts, relationships, emotions, and sense of self. This work is not about pressuring you to change or telling you who you should become. It is about helping you reconnect with your own voice, develop greater trust in yourself, and discover ways of moving forward that feel authentic to you.
My approach integrates talk therapy with expressive arts therapy, grounded in specialized training in art therapy and intermodal expressive work. This means we actively use modalities such as visual journaling, storytelling, movement, and other forms of creative expression as part of the therapeutic process—not just talking about your experiences, but engaging with them in ways that support deeper understanding and change.
Clients often describe me as steady, down-to-earth, and genuine. I value creating a space where you feel safe, seen, and able to show up as you are.
Client Focus
Session Format: Individual sessions.
Age Specialty: Adult, Young Adult
Demographic Expertise: Women clients.
Languages: English
Treatment Approach
- Art Therapy Uses creative activities like drawing, painting, or sculpture as a way to express emotions. It is especially helpful when words are hard to find.
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) An evidence-based treatment for PTSD that teaches clients to reframe unhelpful thoughts about trauma. It helps reduce guilt, shame, and fear.
- Experiential Therapy Involves hands-on activities to bring emotions into the present moment. It helps clients process feelings more deeply than through conversation alone.
- Narrative Therapy Encourages people to view problems as separate from themselves and reframe their life story. It helps build resilience and self-identity.
- Person-Centered Therapy (Rogerian) Emphasizes empathy, unconditional positive regard, and authenticity. It provides a safe space for self-discovery and growth.
- Somatic Therapy Helps clients notice how emotions are stored in the body. It uses breath, movement, and awareness for healing trauma and stress.
Approach Description: My approach is person-centered and grounded in expressive arts therapy. Together, we can use both words and creative expression to explore your experiences in ways that feel natural and manageable. This might include visual journaling, storytelling, writing, poetry, music, sound, movement, or hands-on artmaking. You do not need to consider yourself artistic—the focus is not on creating “good” art, but on noticing what emerges and how you relate to it.
I also incorporate body awareness and a parts-informed perspective to help you gently understand the different aspects of yourself that may be trying to cope, protect you, or be heard. This can create space for greater curiosity and compassion toward emotional and physical responses that may be difficult to understand or express through conversation alone.
I offer a warm, steady, and supportive space while honoring your pace and what feels safe to explore. For those who are interested, I am also trained in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), an evidence-based treatment for trauma that can be thoughtfully integrated with expressive arts practices when it fits your needs, goals, and readiness.
Fees & Insurance
Fees
- Average Session Fee 130
- Affordable sliding scale therapy: apply if you may be eligible.
- I understand that financial considerations can be a barrier to therapy. I offer a limited number of reduced-fee appointments based on need and availability, and I’m open to discussing options to help make therapy more accessible when possible.
- Accepts Insurance
- Aetna, Ascension (SmartHealth), Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey, Curative, Carelon Behavioral Health, Cigna, Humana, Optum, Oscar, Oxford, Quest, Scott & White Health Plan, United Healthcare
Education & Credentials
Elizabeth Starnes LPC-S, ATR-BC®, REAT
- Female
- License # 74739
- Licensed in TX
- Practicing Since 2015
Education: I am a Licensed Professional Counselor–Supervisor (LPC-S), Board Certified Registered Art TherapistSM (ATR-BC®) and Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT). I hold a MS in Counseling Psychology and a BFA, along with a Post-Master’s Certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy.
Elizabeth Starnes Practice Details
Therapy Sessions
- Available Online for residents of Texas
- Online Therapy Details: Zoom
Create Therapy supports adults navigating trauma and PTSD, anxiety, grief, life transitions, relationship difficulties, and patterns of shame or self-doubt. Many clients feel disconnected from themselves, caught in reactions they do not fully understand, or uncertain about how to create meaningful change in their lives and relationships.
The practice offers a person-centered, trauma-informed, and body-aware approach grounded in intermodal expressive arts therapy. Sessions may include conversation, visual journaling, storytelling, writing, movement, metaphor, sound, or other creative processes based on each client’s natural ways of expressing and understanding their experience. A parts-informed perspective may also help clients approach protective patterns with curiosity and compassion. No artistic experience is needed.
Create Therapy provides a warm, genuine, and down-to-earth space where clients can slow down, better understand their emotional and physical responses, reconnect with their own voice and inner wisdom, and develop a more compassionate and grounded relationship with themselves. A free 15-minute consultation is available for those interested in learning more.