Elaine Smith, NCC, LCPC

The Founder, Writer, Psychotherapist

I am Not Your Typical psychotherapist, writer or consultant. I like to look outside the box. And, in all honesty, I never liked coloring inside the lines.

I’m a psychotherapist and a writer, and in my roles, I like to take a non-conventional approach. Throughout my career, I prefer to take the route that is not often taken by others. In the last 16 years of my career, I have met and treated many people. I have come to appreciate how people do not fit inside of a box. Therefore, your treatment should not be as well.

As a therapist and a writer, I think about what will help you stay focused and willing to travel this path of mental and emotional healing.

Only you can travel your mental and emotional health journey.

Therapy is a lot like writing. You will have an idea of what to expect. By the end, you realized your ending is different than your expectation. During this journey, you must let go of what should happen and let it happen. As we learn more about what we are doing, you will begin to change the direction of where you are going. That is the beauty of therapy; you will grow stronger in your identity as you let go of your restriction.

As for the professional side, I published my first workbook in 2021, Strengthening your Inner Queen. A workbook about addressing personal and family traumas for women of color. I am currently working on a fiction novel and another workbook with a potential release in 2022.

I work with young adults, adults, and families. My clinical interests include adult complex trauma, mood disorders, and most personality disorder. I incorporate all types of therapies into my practice. However, I prefer an integrative approach. The first three to four sessions give me an idea about you and your kind of person.  Based on this information, I can determine which strategy to use in sessions. 

My personal favorites are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I am all about addressing the negative thoughts we have and attempting to replace them with positive reviews and at the same time, learning more about our behavioral patterns and the impact it has on our emotional response to situations, people, and things.