About

Hello my name is Carrie McElwee and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, in California. I believe in meeting the client where they are and creating a safe space for each client to feel empowered as positive change occurs, judgement-free and unapologetically. My approach My mission is to promote mental health services through prevention, education, and interventions. I have in my professional career integrated humor with a client-focused / client-centered psychotherapy approach and I am trained in using various evidence-based practices including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Seeking Safety (SS) and Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT). My focus As a trained trauma-informed therapist, I specialize in working with adolescents and adults within several demographics, including BIPOC and LGBTQ communities. I also work with couples facing relationship and sexual issues. My communication style I enjoy setting a tone/environment which is relaxed and stress-free. It can be an enjoyable experience working with me because I encourage each client to seek their personal joy, and healing by giving themselves grace but I'm not afraid to challenge my clients in order to achieve their treatment goals, work through challenges, and achieve healing in a therapeutic setting. My journey to therapy I was working for a large school district and started seeing many children struggling with personal trauma and their academic performance after experiencing unexcepted tragedies such as death, gang violence, drugs, and being bullied. I felt more should have and could have been done using the schools' resources. It became my goal to see a family receive much-needed help after losing the main provider and father of one of my students. With the support of my supervisors and various teachers, the family was contacted to address their issues within the home and receive therapy. I decided at that moment I would dedicate my career to helping others.