Mary Ellis

With background in child/adolescent/adult work, I have developed a special interest in treating adults of all ages struggling with balancing competing demands of work, family, social life, and self-care. Having enjoyed a successful, though unusual, career path I have a particular affinity for individuals in the science/tech fields and for those undertaking advanced degrees in highly competitive programs, including the arts. I am well placed to appreciate the unspoken challenges attending living and thriving in and around the Nation’s Capital.
Through emerging therapeutic alliance, clinical issues are understood in the context of beliefs, feelings, aspirations, behaviors, and cultural expectations. Improvement in self-awareness and insight leads to improvement in functioning by allowing for discovery of healthier way to engage with oneself and the world. Collaborative psychiatric care is fostered.
Professional training in psycho-educational assessments offers me a developmental lens from which present functional capacities can be understood. Experience in various clinical milieu has fostered an appreciation for ways in which systems/institutions, despite best efforts, fail to meet individual needs. I view therapy in both diagnostic and creative terms.