Ellen Stein, LMSW

Hi! I’m Ellen, and I want to be your therapist. Being human is hard. A lot of the time. Sometimes the path ahead is uncertain. We’re stuck. We keep repeating the same patterns over and over again and feel powerless to change it on our own. Or we’re caught in one of life’s storms and having trouble getting our bearings. We’ve experienced loss, failure, or disappointment and aren’t sure how to find meaning and joy in life again. If this is you, maybe you’ve had the thought, “What’s wrong with me? I should be able to bounce back. Life shouldn’t be this hard.” You have been doing it all on your own for a long time, and our burdens are always heavier when we carry them alone. We need to share them sometimes. We need each other. Having someone we trust witness our joys and pains comforts us, reminds us we’re not alone, and gives us the courage to change the things in our life that aren’t serving us anymore. Therapy is a place where we can be witnessed, and it can give us courage to create and nurture these kinds of connections with others in our life. 

Starting therapy is a step toward shifting out of those stuck places and relearning who you are and what you need in this season of life. There is a part of you that is wise. It’s the core of you – your inner wisdom. That part of you that knows the truth, the difficult but right decision. The sense of the calm or peace amidst the storm. You have this part of you. Everyone does. Even if you can’t remember experiencing it or it has been a while since you’ve connected to that part of yourself. Even if you’re not able to access it right now. It’s there. Through therapy I’ll support you in connecting to your body, your emotions, and your inner wisdom with curiosity and compassion. You will develop a sense of safety to weather life’s storms. Step by step you’ll create a new pattern of meeting both the difficult and pleasant experiences in life with courage and openness. You’ll experience the fullness of life and participate in actively shaping your life to be one that is meaningful to you and worth living. We cannot avoid pain. It is part of the human experience, and we don’t have to stay stuck in suffering.