About Diana
Diana Elstad is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) in Washington with 35 years of experience. She helps people facing addictions, depression, anxiety, trauma, relationship strain, grief, and stress. Her manner is warm, respectful, and attentive to what is said and what is not.
Diana has worked across community clinics, treatment centers, hospitals, and independent practice. She has supported many people through recovery from substance use and through long-term emotional challenges.
How Diana works
She also brings experience with aging and geriatric mental health concerns. Her approach is practical and person-focused. Diana listens first, then uses methods that match what each person needs.
She combines elements from client-centered therapy, cognitive behavioral techniques, dialectical behavior skills, motivational interviewing, and narrative work to create a tailored plan. Sessions focus on clear goals and small steps. People can expect to learn coping skills for stress, tools for mood and anxiety management, and strategies to improve communication and boundaries.
Work on eating, sleeping, and self-esteem is grounded in everyday routines and choices. Diana emphasizes collaboration and respect. She aims to notice underlying feelings and patterns, then help people try different ways of responding.
Her years of varied practice give her a broad view while keeping conversations straightforward and useful.
Diana lists 7 ways of working on the entry:
What Diana works with
The areas below are the ones Diana selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Stress, Anxiety
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Register | LMHC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 35 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Washington |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How Diana’s Approaches Work Online
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening without judgment and following the person's lead. It helps people feel heard and supported while they name goals and next steps.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts, feelings, and actions connect. Diana uses CBT to help people change unhelpful thinking and build new routines for mood, sleep, and anxiety management.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, teaches practical skills for managing strong emotions and improving relationships. It can be useful for mood swings, intense stress, and problems with impulse control.
Diana treats finding the right approach as a team effort. She will talk with each person about their goals, try methods that fit, and adjust plans when needed. This collaborative process helps match strategies to real-life needs and preferences.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy flexible. Video is good for face-to-face conversation, phone can work when bandwidth is limited, and chat or text can fit quick check-ins or days when writing feels easier. These options help people fit sessions into work, caregiving, or other busy schedules.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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