Diana Elstad

Diana Elstad is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with 35 years of experience helping people facing addiction, grief, depression, anxiety, trauma, relationship strain, and other life stresses. She works with those coping with parenting challenges, eating and sleeping problems, intimacy issues, and career or self-esteem concerns. Diana also supports people affected by abandonment, attachment struggles, codependency, and substance use challenges. She has provided care across community clinics, treatment centers, hospitals, and private practice in Washington. That breadth of settings means she has worked alongside many kinds of providers and seen a wide range of life situations. Her background includes work in geriatric mental health and substance use recovery services. Diana’s approach is warm and straightforward. She listens closely and pays attention to what is said and what is felt underneath the words. She adapts methods to each person rather than using one fixed technique. She draws on client-centered therapy to prioritize the person's experience, cognitive behavioral therapy to address unhelpful thought and behavior patterns, dialectical behavior therapy skills for managing strong emotions, motivational interviewing to support change, and narrative therapy to reframe personal stories. These tools are mixed to fit each person's goals. To begin, people complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule based on the therapist’s availability. Diana aims to be respectful and present in sessions, helping people find practical ways forward.

How therapeutic approaches shape online care

Client-centered therapy focuses on the person's experience and aims to create a respectful, understanding space where the therapist follows the client's lead. This approach helps people who need acceptance and a chance to make sense of their feelings. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts and behaviors influence mood and teaches practical strategies to change unhelpful patterns; it is commonly used for anxiety, depression, and stress. Dialectical behavior therapy, DBT, emphasizes skills for managing intense emotions and improving interpersonal effectiveness, which can help with regulation and relationship struggles. Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, try methods that match those goals, and adjust as needed. This is a collaborative process where feedback guides which techniques are emphasized. Confirm the current session options before booking so you know which formats are offered. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives by reducing travel time, allowing shorter check-ins on a break, or letting someone join when stepping out for a quiet hour. Licensed professionals can adapt CBT and DBT exercises to an online setting, use motivational interviewing to support change conversations, and apply client-centered listening effectively through remote sessions.