About Elisabeth
Elisabeth VanBuskirk is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California with 35 years of experience. She aims to help people who feel overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, low mood, or the effects of trauma and abuse. Elisabeth works to create a calm space where people can speak honestly and be heard without judgment.
She focuses on practical ways to manage grief and strengthening self-esteem and confidence. Sessions address problems like depression, motivation, and the emotional fallout from difficult life events.
How Elisabeth works
Conversations are straightforward and paced to the client's comfort. Elisabeth draws on long experience to tailor support to each person. She listens for patterns that keep problems repeating and helps people try different coping strategies.
Progress is measured in small, concrete steps toward better daily functioning. Her practice also pays attention to related issues such as attachment concerns, adoption and foster care histories, chronic illness, body image, and relationship communication problems. Those topics are handled with patience and clear, practical suggestions.
Taking the first step can feel hard. Elisabeth offers steady support while people explore goals, try new behaviors, and build confidence for a fuller life.
What Elisabeth works with
The areas below are the ones Elisabeth selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Isolation / loneliness
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Women's 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
Evidence-based approaches and flexible online care
Elisabeth uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques focused on practical change and emotional processing. One approach emphasizes learning concrete coping skills to reduce anxiety and manage stress. These skills help with immediate symptoms like panic, racing thoughts, or trouble concentrating.Another approach centers on processing difficult experiences related to trauma and abuse so they interfere less with daily life. This work moves at the client's pace and helps people tolerate hard memories while building new patterns of thinking and feeling.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Elisabeth will talk with each person about their needs, goals, and preferences and then try methods that fit those priorities. She checks in regularly and adjusts the plan when something isn’t working.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make care more accessible. Video is useful for a fuller conversational experience, phone can be easier when bandwidth is limited, and messaging or live chat can fit brief check-ins or busy schedules. These options let people access therapy from different locations and at times that suit their lives.
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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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