Elizabeth McKinley
Compassionate counselor for life transitions
LPC Colorado
- Experience
- 27 years in practice
- Focus areas
- Family, Trauma and abuse, Bipolar
- Approaches
- Gottman Method, Client-Centered Therapy
- Languages
- English
About Elizabeth
Elizabeth McKinley is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) in Colorado with 27 years of experience. She focuses on helping people manage depression, anxiety, trauma, and the stress that comes with major life changes.
Background and approach
Elizabeth uses clear, practical tools and steady support so people can start feeling more in control. She blends relationship-focused work with individual therapy to address how family history and current relationships shape daily life.
That includes helping people who face grief, caregiver strain, compassion fatigue, and challenges around parenting and blended family issues. She also works with mood disorders such as bipolar and persistent depression.
Elizabeth draws on a mix of approaches in sessions. She uses the Gottman Method to guide conversations about relationship patterns, client-centered work to follow each person's priorities, and cognitive behavioral tools to change unhelpful thinking and behavior.
Mindfulness and existential ideas help people connect meaning and calm in their day-to-day lives. In practical terms she helps clients build coping skills, improve communication, and manage intense feelings like dissociation or emptiness.
She also supports people dealing with abandonment, adoption or foster care histories, and family-of-origin conflicts. Sessions aim for steady, manageable progress rather than quick fixes.
Her style is straightforward and compassionate. People meet a therapist who listens closely, sets clear goals, and adapts strategies to fit what actually works in their life.
How therapeutic approaches work online
Elizabeth often uses the Gottman Method to organize discussions about relationship patterns and communication. In online sessions this approach helps pinpoint recurring interactions and practice new ways of speaking and listening. Client-Centered Therapy is also a core part of her work, which means sessions follow the person's priorities and pace while the therapist offers attentive, nonjudgmental support. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, provides concrete strategies to identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going.Choosing the right approach is a joint process. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn't worked before. Together they decide which methods to try and adjust those methods over time based on progress and feedback.
Online formats available include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is useful for longer work that benefits from face-to-face interaction, while phone calls can fit into a busy day with less bandwidth. Live chat and text-based messaging can be useful for quick check-ins or for people who prefer writing. These options make it easier to fit therapy into daily life and keep momentum between sessions.
Frequently asked questions
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Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
27+ years
Licensed in
Colorado
Languages
English