About Ellen
Ellen Dinsmore helps people manage stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, and life transitions. She also supports concerns like grief, anger, self-esteem, ADHD, and issues related to gender and identity. Ellen is a Minnesota LICSW with 15 years of experience.
Her style is collaborative and straightforward. She invites clients to set clear goals and works with them to find practical steps toward better day-to-day functioning. Sessions are meant to be a place where people can talk without judgment and name what matters to them.
How Ellen works
Ellen uses a mix of approaches that fit the person and the problem. She draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people notice what matters and pursue it, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify patterns that keep problems going. Motivational Interviewing and mindfulness practices are also part of her toolbox when they suit a client's goals.
Many sessions focus on concrete skills and experiments to try between meetings. Ellen coaches people through small changes, coping strategies, and ways to manage cravings or strong emotions. She also helps when big life events leave someone feeling lost or stuck.
People who choose her can expect a down-to-earth, respectful therapist who values honesty and collaboration. Ellen frames work as a joint effort to find what helps in daily life. The emphasis is on real steps people can use after a session ends.
Ellen lists 5 ways of working on the entry:
What Ellen works with
The areas below are the ones Ellen selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Career difficulties
Also listed
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Register | LICSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 15 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Minnesota |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Evidence-informed approaches for online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on helping people identify core values and take actions that match those values even when strong thoughts or feelings are present. It can help with anxiety, depression, and life transitions by shifting attention toward meaningful goals. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts, behaviors, and emotions interact and teaches practical strategies to change unhelpful patterns. CBT is often used for anxiety, depression, and coping with cravings or mood swings. Motivational Interviewing is a conversational method that helps people find their own reasons for change and increase willingness to try new behaviors. Finding the right approach is part of the work. Ellen will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match their needs, goals, and preferences. That may mean trying a new strategy for a few sessions and adjusting based on what helps most. Online therapy offers flexibility in how sessions happen. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation while phone sessions can be easier if bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging support ongoing contact between sessions, brief check-ins, and quick coaching moments. These formats make it simpler to fit therapy into a busy life and to practice skills in real time.Start online instead of waiting
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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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