Catherine Elzie

Catherine Elzie is an LCSW - Licensed Clinical Social Worker practicing in Oregon with 15 years of clinical experience. She helps people who are dealing with depression, bipolar disorder, trauma and abuse, relationship questions, and LGBTQ concerns. Catherine also lists life purpose among her focus areas and works with related struggles around meaning and direction.

Catherine takes a collaborative approach in sessions. She treats clients as the experts on their own lives and works together with them to set goals. She uses a mix of practical skills training and reflective conversation to address mood, trauma responses, and communication problems.

Her work draws on cognitive behavioral tools to notice unhelpful thinking patterns. She also uses acceptance and commitment ideas to help people clarify values and take action that matters to them. Dialectical behavior therapy skills are used when emotion regulation and distress tolerance are important immediate needs.

Catherine brings prior experience in substance abuse settings alongside her clinical practice. That background informs how she talks about motivation, relapse risk, and making changes that last. She also notes experience with veteran concerns and gender identity related issues.

She identifies as LGBTQ+ affirming and sex positive, and uses a Healthy at Every Size perspective when body weight is part of the work. Sessions focus on specific, workable steps and on building skills that fit into everyday life.

How therapeutic approaches guide online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people name what matters to them and take small committed steps toward those values. It is useful for people who feel stuck or aimless and want a clear way to test action against what matters most. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and testing them with concrete experiments. It is often used for depression and mood problems because it gives practical tools for changing daily routines and thoughts. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness skills that help when emotions feel overwhelming.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and current struggles and then shape a plan together. That collaborative decision-making helps match methods like ACT, CBT, or DBT to the specific issue and to what the client finds useful.

Confirm the current session options before booking since formats are not specified here. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into busy life - for example a shorter check-in can be scheduled during a lunch break, and sessions without video can reduce bandwidth needs. Ask about the session length and any subscription details when arranging the first appointment.