Elizabeth Spanburgh LCMHC, LCAS-A, NCC

I’ve spent a good portion of my life hating myself and who I thought I was supposed to be.

When I was growing up, I was surrounded by people who told me that I needed to apologize for being me, for having my own opinions and ideas for my future. I’ve experienced things that resulted in an entrenched belief of “I’m not good enough”. Low self-worth and depression led me down a pretty rough path. I looked for relief and validation in external sources like alcohol and substances as well as in shitty people who took advantage of my biggest insecurities.

I’ve learned a lot along the pathway of healing and I would be lying if I said that it hasn’t taken a long time to recognize my intrinsic value and to know that I am good enough. I’ve learned that I do not have to apologize for being me. I learned that I don’t have to be perfect in order to live a happy and fulfilled life. In fact, my genuine self is pretty awesome!

I also grew to realize that the church system I was raised in caused a lot of harm and yet I still find it valuable to maintain a spiritual connection. So how did I get through it?

How did I come out on the other side?

Therapy, the right medication, and a new found love of weight lifting have been incredibly helpful for me throughout this journey. It has taken more than one thing to help me recognize my worth and to heal from my traumas. The road to recovery has been tough at times. Battling with my own internal belief system, mental illness and addiction is no easy task. The journey has been beautiful, exciting and terrifying all at once.

I remember a time where I felt hopeless, but now I know hope exists and we all deserve to feel better, to heal from our hurt, to reconnect to our spiritual values (or not!), to feel alive and most importantly, to love exactly who we are!

I became a counselor because, for me, being in a non-judgmental space with someone who just wanted to listen proved to be transformative and incredibly validating.

My therapeutic approach is person-centered, which means that we are going to have genuine conversations informed by my belief in your own internal resiliency. Resiliency that you may not see at first. I’m going to ask you to be vulnerable, and I know that can be really frightening. But I know you can do it. We can do hard things.

I provide EMDR, which can be incredibly powerful and life changing. 

I decided to become trained in EMDR in part because it was helpful for me. Through this, I was able to re-process traumatic events in my life that were still affecting me. EMDR works by pulling past experiences to the present while utilizing specific movements from the body. This style of treatment is useful for any experience that was traumatic for you that may be causing you to currently suffer. I am now able to recall events without reliving them and experiencing the negative impacts of them all over again. I not only feel that my brain has healed, I also see that I have adapted and feel better. I have seen EMDR work for so many and if you feel it’s something you’d like to try, we can absolutely have that conversation! I want to help you recognize your value and to help you heal from the traumas you have been through.

When I am not providing therapy, I enjoy lifting weights or re-watching The Office or Parks and Rec. I also love spending time at the beach. My favorite thing to do is swim in the ocean, sharks and all.

And I would be remiss not to mention my 3 fur babies: my two pups, Apollo and Rollo, and my kitty cat, Torvi. They are my world.