Renee Ellis, MA, has been offering women’s counseling for more than 12 years. Learn about her therapeutic approach below; for information on her background, visit Renee’s My Background page.
My Approach
by “Live Your Knowing” Founder and Licensed Therapist Renee Ellis, MA LPC RMT
Choose Your Path to Healing
I am a traditionally trained therapist with a master’s degree in counseling psychology. I’m well-versed in a wide variety of conventional modalities including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), internal family systems therapy (IFS), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, positive psychology, and person-centered therapy, just to name a few. My work with many clients falls entirely within these options.
Some people, however, have tried traditional approaches and are seeking something more. These clients are often better served by including intuitive, energetic, and/or spiritual ways of working. For those clients, I incorporate elements of transpersonal counseling, a type of psychotherapy that addresses a person’s spiritual needs and wellness. If you’re interested in approaching healing from some new perspectives, I offer spiritual therapy, energy work (reiki, etc.), metamorphosis, and past life processing. If you’re empathic or psychic, I can help you build a healthier relationship with this part of your life and even develop your intuitive side (all while using my own intuition to assist the process).
I’ll listen closely during our sessions to better understand your needs and—based on your unique situation—I may suggest a personalized mix of conventional, intuitive, and/or transpersonal approaches. Ultimately, though, we work together to decide the path to healing that fits you best.
The Invitation
Regardless of the therapeutic modalities I employ, I invite clients to join me in creating a supportive and sacred approach to our work together that is rooted in these guiding principles:
The images above represent Giving and Receiving, Surrender, Humility, and Transformation. They are photographs that hang in my office and I take time to connect with them each day as I begin my work with clients.
Giving and Receiving
I have learned over the years that clients benefit most when I walk beside them, not in front. While I may be an expert in the field of psychology, I recognize you, the client, as the expert on your own life path and the steps you need to take next. In this regard, my job is to hold the space, open the door, illuminate the path, and walk with you to a lighter, clearer place. This “giving and receiving” principle supports our collaboration and also acknowledges the sacred trust I receive from my clients and the strength and courage they bring into each session.
Surrender
There are two ways to get things done in this world; we can either keep pushing until something gives, or make room for and collaborate with what is. Most people I work with are burned out (and in some cases physically unwell) from their constant, fruitless fight against life. I help these individuals find a balance between effort and allowing by guiding them to the place within them that knows the difference between ceaseless striving and “right” action. Together we discover the wisdom and strength in surrender.
Humility
I find it so important to approach my work with humility. In truth, I am not the one doing the healing. I am a guide, collaborator, educator, and facilitator. My academic knowledge and the various modalities I’m trained in as a psychotherapist are wonderful tools I can draw upon to promote psychological and spiritual healing, but the healing path comes from within. If I seat myself too firmly in the “I know,” the work suffers, so I hold my professional knowledge lightly as I let it gently inform our work together. In my experience, the greatest change, healing and awe-inspiring moments arise when I acknowledge my clients’ innate wisdom and approach my practice from a place of presence, openness, and humility.
Into the Light
My work is founded on the belief that everyone is fundamentally good, innately wise, worthy of love, and filled with unique potential to bring to the world. My goal is to continually remind each of my clients of their own magnificence with the hope of awakening them to that fundamental truth. As women, we have so much wisdom, compassion, and understanding to offer, and our centered, authentic, and confident voices are urgently needed in every circle we inhabit. I am deeply honored to provide a sacred space where you can come to explore and deeply know your magnificence in every area of your life.
Renee Ellis, founder of Live Your Knowing, has been providing women's counseling services for more than 12 years. She is a licensed therapist with a master’s degree in counseling psychology.