About:

Chelsie Elisa, MA, AMFT, is a dedicated Associate Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in working with teens, adults, couples, and families navigating complex emotional and relational challenges. She has extensive experience supporting individuals dealing with attachment wounds, trauma, emotional dysregulation, interpersonal conflicts, creative blockages, and grief. Chelsie understands that grief extends beyond loss through death—it can arise from identity shifts, relationship endings, and major life transitions. She provides a compassionate, nonjudgmental space where clients can process their emotions, integrate their experiences, and move toward healing and personal transformation.

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Therapeutic Approach:

Chelsie utilizes an integrative, client-centered approach, blending Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), attachment-based interventions, trauma-informed care, and psychodynamic principles. She collaborates with clients to uncover underlying patterns, process unresolved trauma, and build practical coping skills for long-term growth. Drawing from DBT, she helps clients develop mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Her psychodynamic approach allows clients to gain insight into unconscious influences shaping their present experiences, while her attachment-based and trauma-informed perspective fosters safety, connection, and deep emotional healing. She also works with clients experiencing creative blockages, helping them move through self-doubt, perfectionism, and past wounds that may limit their ability to fully express themselves. She guides clients through the deeply personal and nonlinear nature of grief, helping them navigate loss, find meaning, and rebuild their sense of self.

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Education & Professional Experience:

Chelsie earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from California Lutheran University, where she specialized in attachment and trauma. She also studied Fashion Design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from California Lutheran University, graduating magna cum laude. She is a member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) and Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.

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Outside of Therapy:

Beyond her work as a therapist, Chelsie embraces creativity as a means of self-expression and healing. As a sculptor, she works with raw materials, using form and texture to convey emotions beyond words. Music is both an outlet and an exploration, drawing her to spaces where creativity challenges convention. She views art as a powerful tool for resistance, storytelling, and transformation—one that reflects the depth of human experience.

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Schedule a Session:

To work with Chelsie, email chelsieelisamft@gmail.com or call/text 213-866-7115.