Therapist profile
Elizabeth Kotkin, LMFT
LMFT - Parenting and relationship concerns
Continue with ElizabethAbout
- Addictions
- Trauma work
- CBT methods
About Elizabeth
Elizabeth Kotkin is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) licensed in California and New York with 35 years of clinical experience. She works with adults on concerns such as depression, anxiety, grief, parenting strain, addiction, trauma, and relationship difficulties.
She uses straightforward, evidence-informed methods to help people manage symptoms and day-to-day struggles. Sessions focus on what is happening now and on practical steps to reduce distress, improve sleep, and rebuild trust in oneself. She also addresses issues like shame, isolation, codependency, and compassion fatigue.
Elizabeth blends client-centered listening with cognitive-behavioral techniques. That means she will listen first, then work with each person to identify unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and try small changes. Motivational interviewing and solution-focused methods are used when someone is working on change goals such as cutting back substance use or improving parenting routines.
When trauma is part of the story, she incorporates trauma-focused approaches to reduce intrusive memories and emotional overwhelm. Sessions move at a pace the client can handle, with attention to coping skills and safety planning when needed.
Her background includes decades of work in both California and New York, and she draws on that experience when helping people through midlife shifts, divorce and separation, aging concerns, or family-of-origin issues. Elizabeth conducts sessions in English and does not take international clients. For practical arrangements, cost varies by location and sessions use a cancellable subscription model.
How sessions work
How her main approaches work in online sessions
Client-centered therapy starts by placing the person's perspective front and center. The therapist listens, reflects what she hears, and helps the person name goals. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions and uses simple experiments and skill practice to reduce anxiety, improve mood, and help with sleep. Motivational Interviewing focuses on a person's reasons for change and uses reflective conversation to strengthen motivation for specific goals like reducing substance use or changing parenting habits.Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work. The therapist and client decide together which methods fit best based on the client's needs, goals, and preferences. That collaboration continues as progress is reviewed and techniques are adjusted when something isn't helping.
Confirm the current session formats before booking since the biography does not specify them. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week, allow shorter check-ins when time is limited, and remove travel time so people can use a lunch break or evening hour more easily. Licensed professionals can adapt exercises, homework, and coping tools to the online setting so practical change work continues between sessions.
Areas of focus
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
35+ years
Listed in
New York, California
Languages
English
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of family or parenting issues does she address?
She helps individuals cope with parenting strain, family conflict, and concerns that affect household relationships.
How would she approach anxiety or depression?
She uses client-centered listening plus cognitive behavioral techniques to identify patterns and try manageable behavior and thinking changes.
How much clinical experience does she bring?
She has 35 years of experience working with adults on trauma, grief, addiction recovery, and relationship concerns.
What are her credentials and where is she based?
She is an LMFT licensed in California and New York and practices from New York.
Does she work in languages other than English?
Sessions are offered in English only.
Can she work with people outside the United States?
She is not accepting international clients at this time.
How are sessions scheduled and what does it cost?
Cost varies with location; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
What do I need to do to begin?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule your first session.
Details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. A license can be checked with the state board.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If anyone is in danger, use the crisis numbers.