Dr. Lakisha Ellison , LCSW

Dr. Lakisha Ellison is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 15 years of experience based in North Carolina. She supports people facing anxiety, stress, trauma and abuse, parenting and family concerns, LGBT issues, relationship and intimacy-related problems, career transitions, bipolar disorder, and ADHD. Dr. Ellison also helps with adoption and foster care questions, attachment and abandonment issues, codependency, and challenges that come after divorce or domestic violence.

Her approach is direct and down-to-earth. She blends client-centered work with practical tools from cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy. Emotionally-focused and attachment-based ideas shape how she looks at relationships and family patterns.

Sessions aim to help people understand patterns, learn skills for emotion regulation, and strengthen important relationships. She uses a strength-based frame and pays attention to each person's life context. Humor and holistic elements like aromatherapy and simple healing rituals may be added when helpful.

Dr. Ellison has a long history of supporting queer and transgender clients, including lesbian women of color, around the interactions of race, gender, and sexuality. She works with people who have experienced adverse childhood events and those coping with sexual trauma.

Practical help often includes skill-building, solution-focused strategies, and motivational interviewing to support change between sessions. Her goal is to help clients feel more authentic and empowered as they move through life changes.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online care

Attachment-based work focuses on patterns in close relationships and helps people notice how past bonds affect current connections. Online sessions can use this approach to look at attachment needs and communication habits in relationships and family life.

Client-centered therapy centers on the person's experience and priorities, offering a supportive space to talk and be listened to. In remote sessions this feels like a steady, nonjudgmental conversation where the therapist follows what matters most to the client.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose methods that fit their goals, needs, and comfort. That might mean using skill-based CBT tools for anxiety, emotion-focused work for relationship pain, or attachment ideas for family patterns. Decisions are made together and can change as therapy progresses.

Online therapy brings flexibility. Video calls let people connect face-to-face from different locations. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat or text-based messaging can support quick check-ins, homework feedback, or ongoing reflection between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives and to continue work through transitions.