About Elaine
Elaine Lipkin greets people with a calm, practical approach. She focuses on helping individuals manage stress, anxiety, relationship struggles, grief, self-esteem, depression, and addictions.
Background and approach
Elaine aims to make therapy feel manageable and goal-focused for someone juggling life’s pressures. Elaine has worked in mental health since 1975 and has been a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) since 1990.
Her background includes work in psychiatric hospitals, outpatient clinics, and independent practice. That long experience shapes a steady, informed perspective she brings to sessions.
In sessions she helps clients pinpoint where they feel stuck and learn why they think and act the way they do. She uses concrete tools and helps set goals that can be checked and adjusted over time.
Some people choose shorter, solution-focused work and others take more time to explore deeper issues. Her approach draws on several methods, chosen to match each person’s needs.
Elaine pays attention to family of origin influences and uses family systems ideas alongside practical strategies. She aims to listen carefully, stay neutral, and offer empathy while helping clients build useful skills.
Elaine has developed a particular interest in infertility-related concerns and has experience with a national support organization in that field. She also works with issues around aging and caregiving, blended families, cancer-related stress, midlife change, and young adult concerns.
Her practice reflects decades of varied clinical work in California.
How Elaine’s Methods Work Online
Elaine uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness Therapy to help people change unhelpful thoughts and manage strong emotions. CBT focuses on identifying thought patterns and testing them with real-life experiments, which can be useful for anxiety, depression, and sleep problems. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple awareness and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and improve focus, which often helps with stress and coping.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. Elaine treats the decision as a team effort, listening to the client's goals and trying methods that fit those needs. She reviews progress and adjusts techniques so sessions stay useful and relevant to what the person wants to change.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or for a brief check-in. Live chat and text messaging offer quick access between meetings and can fit into busy schedules. These options help people keep continuity of care while balancing work, caregiving, or travel.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of problems does Elaine address?
What is her style of therapy like?
How long has she practiced?
Where is her practice based and what are her credentials?
Which languages are used in sessions?
Can people outside the U.S. work with her?
What session formats are available?
How are costs handled and how do I start?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Grief
Also works with
- 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
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 35 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English