Ellen Shafer-Lind

Ellen Shafer-Lind is a Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner (LIMHP) who helps people manage anger, stress, anxiety, relationship strain, grief, and life transitions. She brings a calm, encouraging presence and focuses on practical steps people can use right away. Her approach aims to help clients feel steadier and more able to handle everyday challenges.

Ellen draws on decades of clinical experience gained in hospital work, the Veterans Health Administration, and private practice. She earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and holds the LIMHP credential. Over many years she has developed ways to tailor sessions to each person’s needs rather than using one fixed method.

In sessions she often uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thoughts and to build different coping skills. She also uses client-centered listening to learn what matters most to each person. When helpful, she brings in psychodynamic ideas to look at patterns that repeat over time and solution-focused strategies to set short-term goals and track progress.

Ellen has worked with grief and loss, addictions, caregiving stress, blended family concerns, domestic violence aftermath, and veteran-related issues. She speaks plain language and aims to make therapy straightforward and useful. People meet her when they want practical tools, clearer thinking, and steady support while they work through change.

To begin, she asks people to identify goals and build a plan that fits their life and schedule. Sessions move at a pace the client finds comfortable and emphasize skills people can use between meetings.

How her approaches translate to online care

Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes listening and building a respectful relationship. In practice this means the therapist focuses on what the client says and works to reflect and clarify feelings so the client feels understood and can make choices that fit their life.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is skill-oriented and practical. It helps people notice patterns of thought and behavior, try new coping strategies, and test small changes to reduce angry reactions, anxiety, or low mood.

Psychodynamic ideas look at longer-term patterns and how past experiences shape current responses. These perspectives can help when someone wants to understand why certain reactions keep returning.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals, try methods that match those goals, and adjust as needed so the client and therapist find the best fit through collaboration.

If you are considering online therapy, confirm which session formats are offered before booking since formats were not specified in the biography. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and remove travel time. It also lets people use tools such as worksheets and screen sharing to practice CBT skills between meetings.