Ellen Walker , LICSW

Ellen Walker is a licensed clinical social worker with a long history of practice in Washington, DC and early 60s life experience that informs a grounded, optimistic outlook. She holds the LICSW credential - Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker - and brings 30 years working in mental health and child welfare settings, a background that has exposed her to a wide range of clinical situations.

Her work has included couples, family, individual, and child-focused therapy addressing physical and emotional trauma, grief, depression, anxiety, addiction, relationship difficulties, and major life transitions. She draws on an eclectic mix of methods to tailor care to each person's needs, with particular emphasis on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and trauma-informed techniques. This flexible approach helps her support clients facing problems such as parenting and family conflicts, caregiver stress, compassion fatigue, self-esteem struggles, and other emotional or behavioral challenges.

Ellen typically meets with clients once weekly for 45 minutes, beginning by learning about the concerns that brought them to counseling and building a collaborative therapeutic alliance based on trust, respect, honest communication, and shared commitment to the work. She has often found video sessions helpful for initial meetings but also uses phone and text communication to accommodate different preferences. Her schedule has tended toward morning and weekend availability with a degree of flexibility, and she checks messages at least once during each weekday. Ellen values the effort it takes to reach out for support and frames therapy as a partnership aimed at greater self-understanding and more effective ways of relating to the world.

Integrating Therapeutic Approaches into Online Care

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on the link between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It helps clients identify unhelpful thinking patterns and learn practical skills to manage symptoms like anxiety, depression, and stress, and to change behavior in ways that support recovery and problem solving.

Solution-Focused Therapy emphasizes small, achievable changes and the client’s existing strengths. It is goal-oriented and useful for people who want to move past specific problems such as relationship conflicts, parenting challenges, or career transitions by building on what already works.

Motivational Interviewing is a collaborative, nonjudgmental style that helps clients explore their own reasons for change and strengthen motivation. It can be particularly helpful for addressing ambivalence around issues such as addiction, behavior change, or readiness to try new coping strategies.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Ellen works with clients and licensed professionals to consider individual goals, preferences, and needs, and to adjust methods over time so the work stays relevant and effective.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility - sessions can take place by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging - allowing therapy to fit into busy schedules, accommodate different communication styles, and reach people who live far from in-person services. For many clients this accessibility makes it easier to maintain consistency and progress toward their goals.