Dr. Liz Casline
Approach to Therapy
I value providing research-supported, personalized therapy that centers collaboration, curiosity, and acceptance. I use cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), informed by the Unified Protocols, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
For clients with OCD, I provide Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Inference-Based CBT (ICBT), a newer approach to treating OCD that focuses on targeting the doubt that leads to underlying intrusive thoughts and compulsions. I also follow a Health at Every Size (HAES) approach.
Who I Work With
I work with young adults who are interested in building knowledge and tangible skills for managing worry, stress, sadness and doubt. Many of my clients find themselves revisiting the same thing: replaying social interactions or perceived mistakes, re-reading texts or emails, re-evaluating past decisions, questioning if they’ve missed or overlooked something, or wondering if they are a responsible or good person. Others have a desire for change in their lives, yet are struggling to feel motivated, are exhausted by daily responsibilities, or feel lost about the next steps. I also work with LGBTQ+ clients who may be facing additional stress related to their identities or just want an affirming therapist. I have helped those struggling with gender dysphoria and wanting to cultivate more gender euphoria in their lives.
What Clients Can Expect from Therapy
I help clients understand the thought processes that lead to worry and rumination and learn how to get unstuck from these loops. I also support clients in building confidence in themselves through values exploration, mindfulness, and present-moment awareness skills. Many clients I work with have had difficulty since childhood or adolescence, and are returning to or beginning therapy with the benefit of greater autonomy over their lives. In this case, the work often includes building awareness of the impact of childhood experiences on current emotional well-being and navigating family dynamics, including boundaries and estrangement.
Who I Work With
I provide support for youth who are worried about grades and school, are self-critical of their performance in extra-curricular activities, are stressed and overwhelmed, have low self-esteem, or are frequently irritable or annoyed. These difficulties often lead youth to get stuck when doing their homework, to have difficulties sleeping, to have headaches or upset stomachs, to argue with family members, or to experience emotional meltdowns or other behavioral challenges. For some youth the overwhelm may also look like avoidance of uncomfortable situations, including not completing homework or staying home from school. Many children and teens I work with are also navigating difficulties with their peers, including feeling shy or nervous, having trouble with friendships, feeling isolated or bullied, or avoiding social interactions. I also work with youth who are exploring their sexual and gender identities and caregivers who want to provide loving support that facilitates healthy exploration and development.
What Clients Can Expect from Therapy
I help youth build greater awareness of their emotional experiences, identify unhelpful ways of thinking that are increasing their distress, and build skills in effective emotion regulation. I intentionally guide sessions to facilitate learning, including having a predictable session structure and using multiple approaches to keep youth engaged and enjoying therapy. Children and teens benefit most when their caregivers are regularly involved in therapy. Caregivers participate in therapy so they can understand what their child is learning and build tools for supporting the use of therapy skills outside of session. For younger children, this means I often ask caregivers to attend the beginning and end of every session. As youth get older, caregivers may attend only a portion of each session or attend less frequently. I also regularly meet with caregivers without their child present to discuss therapy progress and identify effective parenting approaches for supporting emotion regulation at home. Even though caregivers are involved, children and teens still have a right to privacy in therapy. This means I prioritize including youth in deciding what and how information from therapy is shared with their caregivers.