Catherine Elzie, LCSW

Catherine Elzie, LCSW, helps people facing trauma, mood disorders, and LGBTQ+ concerns. She also supports those coping with relationship struggles, bipolar disorder, depression, and the ongoing impact of past abuse. Her approach is straightforward and collaborative, aimed at working with each person’s goals and strengths.

Catherine brings 15 years of mental health experience to sessions, plus two decades of work in substance abuse settings earlier in her career. She describes herself as warm and nonjudgmental, and she uses direct, sometimes irreverent, humor when it fits the conversation. She practices with a body-positive, sex-positive, and LGBTQ+ affirming stance.

In sessions she listens for what matters most to a person and then helps build practical tools for everyday life. That can mean learning skills to manage intense emotions, trying new ways to handle painful memories, or finding clarity about relationships and life purpose. Catherine emphasizes choice and values when people face hard decisions.

She works with people who are navigating chronic pain, illness, or disability alongside mental health concerns. She also has experience with first responder and veteran issues, multicultural stress, and problems tied to prejudice or identity-based harm. Catherine aims to make therapy a collaborative effort that fits each person’s lifestyle.

Based in Oregon, she uses evidence-informed methods like acceptance and commitment ideas, cognitive behavior strategies, and dialectical behavior techniques to shape sessions. People who want practical skills, honest conversation, and steady support often seek her out.

How certain approaches are used in online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) invites people to notice what matters most and take small steps toward those values. It helps when someone feels stuck by fear, mood changes, or ongoing health challenges. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thought and behavior patterns and testing new ways of responding. CBT can be useful for depression, mood symptoms, and everyday problem solving. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and stronger communication skills for intense feelings and interpersonal stress.

Choosing the right approach is part of treatment. Catherine works together with each person to decide which methods fit their goals and preferences. That decision can shift over time as needs change, and she helps people try techniques and see what helps in daily life.

Confirm which session formats are available before booking, as the biography does not list specific options. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when schedules are tight. It can also let people use phone-only contact when bandwidth is limited or choose video when visual cues are helpful. Licensed professionals can adapt exercises and homework to work in remote sessions, keeping a practical focus on skills people can use between meetings.