Therapy, Healing and Growth

With Dr. Elena Bassett

Schedule a Consultation
A woman sitting on a gray armchair with patterned pillow, next to a white brick wall with a large wooden acoustic guitar hanging on the wall behind her.

Remember who you were before the world told you who to be.

Welcome. I’m glad you’re here.

I’m a clinical psychologist who provides psychotherapy via telehealth to individuals in California. My practice focuses on supporting people who have been carrying a lot - responsibilities, care for others, and pressure to get it right - who want to find more balance and come home to themselves.

Many of the people I work with are caregivers, helpers, creatives, and driven professionals. Some are supporting loved ones with persistent mental or physical illness. Others are highly sensitive, perfectionistic, or accustomed to being “the strong one.” What they share is a tendency to carry a great deal internally, often at the expense of their own needs.

Over time, this can lead to feeling disconnected – from yourself, your relationships, or the life you’re living.

Therapy can be a space to slow down and explore what you want and need, without judgment. It can help you to gradually start reconnecting:
with your body,
your emotions,
your values,
your loved ones,
your communities,
and your truest self.

A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, smiling, sitting on a sofa, holding a ceramic mug, wearing a maroon blazer and blue jeans, in a cozy living room with a large plant, a lamp, and framed art on the wall in the background.

Many of us have learned strategies to survive...

…in difficult or invalidating environments. Unsure how to manage stress, grief, or trauma. We may have started adapting to meet the needs and expectations of others, doing what we thought was “right” or “good”, hiding our perceived flaws – including emotions we learned were unacceptable.

When we rely on those strategies, it can lead to: 

  • Burnout

  • Compassion fatigue

  • Exhaustion

  • Chronic anxiety

  • Unresolved grief

  • Depression

  • Feelings of emptiness

A person in a red jacket sits on a large fallen log by a calm river, with a scenic view of mountains and trees, during autumn.

The light that once burned bright inside of us starts to fade.
We can land in a perpetual cycle of worry and disconnection.

Sunlight filtering through a lush green forest with tall trees and dense foliage.

To empower ourselves
and live more freely,
we need to: 

  • Notice and allow our feelings without judgment

  • Calm our fear and shift out of fight/flight/freeze mode 

  • Build healthy coping skills

  • Recognize our common humanity

  • Rewrite old stories

  • Let go of shame

  • Allow our whole selves to be seen and held with compassion

Autumn landscape with trees reflecting in a calm river, mountains partly shrouded in fog in the background
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco during sunset, viewed from a rocky hillside.

If your life is feeling stuck, overwhelming, or out of alignment, I can help you to connect with your values, recalibrate, and live in a way that feels true to you.

Therapy is an opportunity to step back, ask questions, and discover new ways of thinking, acting, and connecting.

With the right skills
and supports, you can
learn to balance:   

  • Doing and Resting

  • Acceptance and Change

  • Grief and Joy 

  • Caring for others and Caring for yourself 

  • Knowing and Wondering 

  • Safety and Courage 

  • Thinking and Feeling

  • Strength and Vulnerability

  • Holding On and Letting Go

  • Confidence and Humility

  • Ending and Beginning 

  • Planning and Presence 

  • Struggle and Hope

Schedule a Consultation