About Elaine
Elaine Lipkin greets people who feel stuck, overwhelmed, or at a crossroads with a calm and steady presence. She helps clients sort through stress, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship struggles, and addictive behaviors. Elaine is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 35 years in the mental health field and she speaks English.
Her background includes early work in psychiatric hospitals and outpatient clinics, followed by independent practice and a long licensed career that began in 1990.
How Elaine works
That early experience included staff education with well-known figures in psychotherapy, which she says gave her a strong foundation. In sessions she focuses on practical goals that can be checked and revised over time. Therapy can be short and solution-focused or longer and more exploratory, depending on what a person needs.
She aims to help people recognize patterns, understand why they react as they do, and build tools to make different choices. Elaine draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy, and adapts those ideas to each person. She pays attention to family of origin influences and brings a family systems perspective when useful.
Her particular experience includes work around infertility and caregiving stress, aging and geriatric issues, blended family concerns, cancer-related stress, midlife shifts, and young adult challenges. The practical focus is on steps people can try between sessions to feel more in control and less overwhelmed.
Elaine lists 3 ways of working on the entry:
What Elaine works with
The areas below are the ones Elaine selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Grief
Also listed
- Addictions
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Blended family issues
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- Midlife crisis
- Parenting issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LMFT |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 35 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | California |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Therapeutic approaches and online care
Elaine uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify unhelpful thinking and change behavior patterns that keep problems going. CBT is practical and often focuses on skills and experiments to try between sessions.She also uses Mindfulness Therapy to help people notice thoughts and feelings without getting swept away by them. Mindfulness can be useful for anxiety, stress, sleep problems, and mood regulation.
Solution-Focused Therapy is another tool she uses when people want short-term, goal-directed work. It emphasizes steps that move someone toward a clearer, more manageable future.
Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Elaine will help clients choose and adjust methods based on their needs, goals, and preferences. She frames this as a collaborative process where goals are set, reviewed, and changed when needed.
Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions let people use visual cues and a fuller conversation. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging offer flexibility for quick check-ins or when writing feels more natural. These formats make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and to keep progress moving forward.
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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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