About Elissa
Elissa Padilla is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) practicing in California. She brings three years of clinical experience and a practical focus to sessions. She speaks English and uses clear, everyday language to help people facing stress, anxiety, depression, and related concerns.
Elissa offers short, focused conversations that aim to make things more manageable right away. She draws on tools from cognitive behavioral work to challenge unhelpful thoughts and from solution-focused work to identify small next steps.
How Elissa works
She also uses psychodynamic ideas to look at patterns that repeat over time. Common concerns she helps with include relationship tensions, trauma and abuse, bipolar mood challenges, addiction issues, parenting strain, grief, low self-esteem, ADHD, and life transitions. She also pays attention to attachment issues, caregiver stress, commitment and separation struggles, and challenges like guilt, shame, and forgiveness.
Sessions are conversational and practical. Elissa will listen, reflect what she hears, and suggest experiments or techniques to try between sessions. The aim is to create clearer choices and reduce immediate distress while also addressing longer-term patterns.
To get started, a client selects the Start Therapy button, completes a short matching questionnaire, and schedules according to therapist availability. Fees vary with location and the subscription can be canceled at any time.
Elissa lists 4 ways of working on the entry:
What Elissa works with
The areas below are the ones Elissa selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Commitment issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Family conflicts
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Parenting issues
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Self esteem
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LMFT |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 3 |
| 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-informed approaches and online care
Elissa uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people identify and change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors; this approach is often useful for anxiety, depression, and stress. She also draws on solution-focused methods that concentrate on small, doable steps and clear goals to create quick, practical progress. Psychodynamic ideas are used to notice repeating relationship and emotional patterns that can influence current choices and feelings.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. Elissa discusses goals and preferences with each person and adjusts methods as needed. She collaborates on a plan that balances immediate coping strategies with deeper pattern work when that fits the client's needs.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls are useful for face-to-face conversation and nonverbal cues. Phone sessions can require less bandwidth and work well for a focused check-in. Live chat and text messaging let people send updates, ask quick questions, or check in between sessions. These options offer flexibility to fit therapy into a busy schedule and to choose the format that feels most comfortable.
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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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