About Elena
Elena Spanos is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 25 years of experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, ADHD, depression, relationship issues, grief, and trauma. She focuses on practical steps to reduce daily overwhelm and improve sleep, mood, and self-esteem. Her style is direct and compassionate, aimed at making small changes that add up over time.
Elena uses straightforward talk therapy to identify behaviors and thoughts that get in the way.
Background and approach
She helps clients set clear goals and experiments to test what works. Sessions often include skill practice, mindfulness exercises, and ways to change unhelpful thinking patterns. Her training includes a Master of Social Work in Clinical Social Work from Michigan State University and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of South Florida.
She became licensed in 2000 and has worked in schools, outpatient settings, and independent practice since 2002. That background gives her experience with a wide range of life challenges and relationship strains. Elena tailors methods to each person's needs instead of using a one-size-fits-all plan.
She draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Client-Centered Therapy, and the Gottman Method when relevant. Together with the client she chooses the tools that best match the situation. People reach out to her when they need help coping with major life changes, chronic stress, or ongoing mood problems.
She aims to create a calm, practical space where progress is measured in clearer routines, better communication, and fewer crisis moments.
Therapeutic approaches and online care
Elena commonly uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in her work. ACT focuses on clarifying values and taking committed action, which helps when people feel stuck or overwhelmed by worry. CBT looks at how thoughts and behaviors interact and teaches concrete skills to change unhelpful thinking and coping patterns.She approaches treatment collaboratively. Together the therapist and client decide which methods fit best based on goals, day-to-day needs, and personal preferences. That way the plan can be adjusted as progress is made and new challenges arise.
Online therapy in her practice is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and screen sharing for worksheets. Phone sessions can be a good alternative when bandwidth or camera use is a concern. Messaging and live chat make it easier to check in between sessions or fit brief skill practice into a busy day. These options make therapy more flexible and easier to fit around work, caregiving, and other responsibilities.
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Anger management
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
- Trichotillomania
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- Florida
- Languages
- English
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