About Alan
Alan Ellias is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) in Michigan with 20 years of part-time experience as a psychotherapist. He spent much of his career in school settings and community crisis work, and he continues to offer counseling that focuses on practical steps and steady support. Alan aims to make therapy approachable and straightforward for people who are worried or overwhelmed.
Alan’s background includes work at a crisis line and roles in emergency services, community counseling, and a independent practice.
Background and approach
He has helped people facing depression, anxiety, grief, trauma and abuse, relationship strain, parenting challenges, career stress, and ADHD. He also brings experience in hospice and end-of-life counseling and dealing with infidelity and phobias. In sessions he favors a warm, nonjudgmental, and adaptable style.
He listens closely, points out options, and offers guidance when it may help. Alan emphasizes that clients know their lives best and that therapy is a collaborative process built around each person’s goals. Clinically he blends cognitive behavioral ideas with psychodynamic perspectives and acceptance-oriented work.
That mix is used to notice unhelpful thinking, build coping skills, and connect past patterns to present choices. Mindfulness and client-centered attention are woven into sessions as useful tools. People who want practical, respectful support find his manner accessible.
He works to tailor sessions and plans to each person’s needs, focusing on small changes that make daily life easier. If someone is ready to try talking things through, he aims to provide steady support and clear next steps.
How his approaches work in online therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts without getting stuck in them and then commit to actions that match their values; it can be useful for anxiety, stress, and life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing them with real-life actions to change feelings and behaviors, which often helps with depression, anxiety, and coping skills. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes a respectful, empathetic listening stance where the therapist follows the client’s lead and supports their own problem-solving and growth.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match goals, preferences, and what’s happening in their life. That may mean blending elements from different approaches and adjusting over time based on what helps most.
Online therapy offers flexible options like video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video is useful for a full conversation and face-to-face feel, phone can fit a break at work or lower bandwidth needs, and chat or messaging can be helpful for quick check-ins or when someone prefers writing. These formats make it easier to fit regular sessions into busy lives and keep consistent momentum toward goals.
Questions people ask
What kinds of concerns does Alan address?
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How much experience does he have?
What credentials and location are listed?
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Self esteem
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- Michigan
- Languages
- English
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