Elizabeth Starnes (She/Her)

My therapy practice is dedicated to women and helping them heal and gain insight. Society has put many expectations on women through social media and our culture. It is causing enormous stress and anxiety due to not being able to live up to such extremes. Does anyone have the space to just be? To discover what they want or need. To accept themselves, whether that is fat, skinny, tall, short, married, single, and many more categories. After all, we have only one life. Do you feel pressured to be perfect? It is exhausting. Part of our human experience is to create stories, however many times they are inaccurate and cause us unnecessary pain and heartache. Our stories are missing the facts and are developed through traumatic experiences we don’t want to live again. So, we create the story to justify our response and avoid heartache. Yet, the opposite happens. We indirectly create more heartache and pain. We create anxiety and stress running from whatever past story we are terrified of. This is so common in trauma. Avoidance is the best approach, or so we think. My approach is to spend the to build trust and safety in the therapeutic relationship. I do not pressure clients nor do I set the agenda. You decide the direction of the session. My role is to be present with you, to reflect any patterns I hear, and to help you challenge any stories that are repeating and causing you pain. I have been described as authentic, warm and empowering by my clients. My therapeutic approaches are cognitive theory based – using both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques and Cognitive Processing Therapy. In addition, I do encourage clients to use expressive arts in therapy in session and for homework. You do not need to be an artist. My areas of interest are trauma/PTSD, anxiety, self-esteem issues, life transitions, and grief/loss. Outside of therapy work, I enjoy being outdoors, gardening, walking, listening to music, and spending time with adult children and my grandsons. I hope you find the perfect therapist to meet your needs. Feel free to reach out for a free 15 minute consultation to see if we could be a good fit.