Elliott Skaggs
I am licensed in three states (NY, NC, and SC) and have 8 years total of clinical experience. My career started in North Carolina when I got my Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Western Carolina University and completed my internship serving as a counselor in an inpatient substance use treatment facility. After that, most of my career was spent serving diverse populations in New York City, in multiple settings of care including substance use treatment and community mental health treatment facilities, and private practice settings. I worked with a heavily diverse, international, and multicultural population from many backgrounds. Over time I had immersive experience building a niche working with LGBTQ+ clients, with a particularly strong following of gay men navigating complexities in their identity, sexuality, and interpersonal relationships. I also worked with clients from all walks of life navigating concerns around trauma, addiction, mood disorders, major life transitions, and concerns regarding intimate relationships. I consider my counseling approach to be ecletic. I incorperate concepts from many different modalities and adapt them to the unique needs and personalities of my clients. Some of the major counseling theories I draw from include Person-centered therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Cognative Behavioral Therapy, Dialectal Behavioral Therapy, Positive Psychology, and many others.
First session
Our first session is an opportunity for us to get to know each other and begin understanding what brings you to therapy. I will ask questions about your current concerns, background, goals, and what you hope to gain from treatment so we can determine whether I am a good fit for your needs. I will also make space for you to ask questions about me, my approach, and what you can expect from therapy. My goal is for the first session to give us a clear foundation for our work together while helping you feel informed, comfortable, and involved in the process.
Strengths
As I have grown as a therapist, I have come to believe that meaningful therapy requires a balance between acceptance and change. I work to help clients develop greater self-compassion, understand themselves more deeply, and recognize that personal growth does not require harsh self-judgment. At the same time, therapy should also create opportunities to examine patterns of thinking or behavior that may be keeping someone stuck. I strive to create a warm, collaborative, and nonjudgmental environment where you can speak openly and feel comfortable being yourself. From that foundation, I will also gently challenge you when appropriate—helping you recognize patterns, consider new perspectives, and take meaningful steps toward the goals that brought you to therapy. One of my strengths is adapting this balance to the individual. Some clients need more space to process and feel understood, while others benefit from greater structure, direct feedback, or practical strategies. My goal is to understand what you need and adjust our work accordingly.
Ideal clients
I work best with clients who are motivated to make meaningful changes and are willing to engage actively in the therapeutic process. Meaningful engagement often involves embracing emotional vulnerability and being willing to explore personal or uncomfortable topics with openness and honesty. A good fit is also someone whose concerns align with my areas of focus, who is open to identifying clear goals, and who is interested in working collaboratively toward them. My practice is best suited for concerns that can be appropriately addressed through individual telehealth counseling.
Treatment methods
Person-centered (Rogerian)
I emphasize using empathic active listening skills to help you feel understood, while holding a non-judgemental stance. This method helps you feel seen and heard and aids you in feeling supported to step into greater authenticity.
Motivational Interviewing
This approach helps me meet you where you are at in your relationship to making changes. Rather your in denile of an issue, contemplating the possibility of changing it, planning to or actively in the process of change, or maintaining established positive changes, or even relapsing into undesired/unhealthy habits. It emphasizes considering pros and cons and asking both open and closed questions to help you explore your motivations.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
This method of therapy emphasizes holding two seemingly oppositive truths at once to find wisedom. A common example might be, being able to both love someone and be angry at them at the same time. Or more commonly discussed in employing this method learning that it is equally important to cultivate "self-acceptance" or "self-compassion" while also acknowledging a need to change one's behavior to be happier and healthier. This method of therapy employs the use of 4 modules of skills: 1) mindfulness, 2) emotional regulation, 3) distress tolerance, and 4) interpersonal effectiveness. These skills help you change how you relate to your thoughts and emotions and give you tools to improve your relationships and resilience. While originally made for structured out patient programs, I adapt this method of therapy to enhance my work on an individual level with my client. If my client struggles with accepting things out of their control or balancing their rational mind with their emotional truth, I often employ this method of therapy to help them.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
CBT emphasizes the importance of understanding how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interrelated. By learning to change our thoughts we can effectively improve how we both feel and behave. CBT also teaches us that our thoughts can sometimes distort reality in such a way that we can create unnecessary distress for ourselves and others. Additionally, CBT emphasizes understanding core beliefs we tend to form like "I am unlovable" or "the world is unsafe" that influence how we percieve reality. I use CBT methods to help client develop better insight into how their thoughts and core beliefs impact them and how to change them for more desirable outcomes in their behaviors and well being.
Attachment-based
In attachment based therapy I emphasize teaching clients about how they form patterns in their bonds and connections with others. We will explore how this is based on developmental relationships they've had over time. Through developing more insight into how client's form connections and maintain them the hope is that my client will began to identify maladaptive relational patterns and learn how to recognize and maintain healthier ones.
Location
Virtual sessions
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Licensed in
- New YorkLicense 015352
- North CarolinaLicense 23146
- South CarolinaLicense 11910