Diana Elstad, LMHC

Diana Elstad is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with 35 years of experience helping people navigate addiction, depression, anxiety, trauma, relationship concerns, and major life changes. She often supports people facing stress, grief, intimacy or self-esteem struggles, and issues around parenting, sleep, eating, and career worries.

She has worked in community clinics, treatment centers, hospitals, and private practice across Washington. That history includes substantial work with substance use and recovery. Diana also has experience addressing aging and geriatric concerns and related caregiver stress.

In sessions she aims to be warm, kind, and respectful. She listens for the feelings under the words and responds without judgment. Diana uses a mix of approaches and adapts to what each person needs in the moment.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) are commonly used tools in her work, along with client-centered listening, motivational interviewing, and narrative techniques. These methods are used to help people change unhelpful thoughts, learn emotional regulation skills, and find new ways to tell their story.

Practical skills, short-term problem solving, and exploring life patterns are common parts of her sessions. She helps people set realistic goals and develop steps to reach them. Diana welcomes honest conversation and focuses on building workable strategies for everyday life.

Approaches That Shape Online Sessions

Diana commonly draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Client-Centered Therapy in online work. CBT focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, which can help with anxiety, depression, stress, and patterns that feed addiction. Client-Centered Therapy centers on being listened to without judgment and helps people feel understood as they explore their concerns.

She also uses Dialectical Behavior Therapy when people need concrete skills for emotion regulation and distress tolerance. DBT offers step-by-step tools for managing intense feelings and improving communication and relationships.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will work collaboratively to see which methods fit a person’s goals and preferences, and adjust the plan over time. Clients help set goals and choose which skills or strategies to prioritize.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face discussion and shared materials, phone sessions can be a simpler option when bandwidth is limited, live chat suits quick check-ins or shorter conversations, and text-based messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These formats help people fit therapy into busy lives and maintain continuity of care while working on recovery, stress, relationships, or grief.