Elisa Lyons, MA, LMHC

Elisa chose to become a Licensed Mental Health Counselor out of a desire to help children and families of Iowa. As a native of rural Southeast Iowa, she recognized the need to make quality mental health care more accessible to the people of this area. People may not always need this service, but she believes that it is important for all people to have access to mental health services when they are needed. This belief led her to establish Iowa Family Counseling in early 2019. Elisa is also actively involved with the Washington County Mental Health Coalition in efforts to promote mental health well-being through awareness, connections & education in our local community.

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Elisa was awarded her Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling from the University of Iowa (Go Hawks!) and has continued to receive advanced training and education. Elisa has over a decade of experience providing behavioral health and mental health counseling services in a variety of settings and with a variety of populations; working with children as young as 3, adolescents, and adults of all ages. She is currently the only therapist from the practice that is providing school=based therapy within our partnered school districts.

 

​Elisa has a special interest in working with children and adolescents and in treating survivors of trauma and abuse. She also offers a wide variety of treatment plans for individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, anger, grief, or those struggling with the stresses associated with major life changes. She identifies as a person-centered therapist on both a clinical and soul level, yet also draws from a wide-base of psycho-therapeutic techniques in her practice to best serve the needs of each individual client. These techniques include cognitive-behavioral therapy, internal family systems (IFS), art/play/sand tray therapy techniques & EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing).

 

With those interested, Elisa enjoys exploring symbolism with her clients by looking at their remembered dreams, oracle cards, Internal Family Systems (IFS) inner active cards, or tarot cards to explore how the symbolism and projections might relate to what they are experiencing in their life.

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​When not working in the office, Elisa may be found 'working' as a volunteer as the co-chair on the Domestic Violence Intervention Program/Rape Victims Advocacy Program's Board of Directors, the Mid-Prairie Foundation, NAMI Southeast Iowa and CPPC (Community Partnerships for Protecting Children). In her downtime, she loves to travel, spend time with her family and friends, thrift for a good bargain and participate in any activity that brings her outdoors and in nature. 

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