- Perhaps you are planning to marry, looking to improve your marriage, or trying to decide whether or not to remain in your current romantic relationship.
- We have had the honor of helping many people work through these and other challenges in order to build happier, healthier lives.
- Our specialties include couples therapy, addressing infidelity, adjusting to break-ups, relationship skill-building, communication enhancement, navigating divorce, self-esteem building, and pre-marital counseling.
- Elisabeth also works with family businesses and closely held corporations to improve workplace dynamics, enhance communication skills and optimize performance.
— Elisabeth Joy LaMotte, founder
We teach concrete relationship skills that help clients build stronger, happier, more intimate relationships with family, friends and romantic partners.
If you are experiencing a difficult break-up, a divorce, or the painful discovery of infidelity, we will help you work through the many levels of loss that are common to such challenges. We help our clients find opportunities for growth in spite of these painful scenarios.
If you want to improve your marriage or seek pre-marital counseling, our approach considers each partner as an essential player in the relationship’s strengths and challenges. We teach relevant psychological theories to help you work on both yourself and your relationships.
Whether you are looking to build self-esteem, become a better communicator, manage anxiety or relieve depression, we work with clients to set concrete goals and take clear steps to achieve them. In addition, we help clients gain insights necessary to improve their lives.
We suggest resources so that the therapy is happening not just in our office, but outside of the office, in your lives. To this end, specific books, films, web sites and articles are suggested and tailored to the needs and interests of each client.
One of the signature aspects of our practice is our emphasis on cinema-therapy and biblio-therapy. For many years, we have integrated these resources into our approach, and our clinical experience has been that the use of appropriate films and books enhances the effectiveness of therapy. Research has more recently validated the clinical benefits of our approach. You can find out more in this report from the New York Times. In February, 2016, 2017, and 2018, Elisabeth was honored to have the opportunity to present strategies for this approach at the annual conference of the American Group Psychotherapy Association.
Featured Media Appearances
At DC Counseling & Psychotherapy Center, we're committed to raising awareness about mental health and addiction issues through expert insights shared in the media. Below are highlights from recent television segments featuring our founder, Elisabeth LaMotte, LICSW, where she discusses timely topics and practical strategies for well-being.
Problem Gambling Awareness Month
DC Counseling & Psychotherapy Center founder Elisabeth LaMotte joined Good Day DC before March Madness begins to address gambling addiction and treatment options.
World Mental Health Day
Today is World Mental Health Day, a reminder of the importance of caring for our emotional well-being, especially in the face of constant news and global challenges. Joining us is licensed therapist Elizabeth LaMotte, founder of the DC Counseling and Psychotherapy Center, with expert advice on protecting your mental health and building resilience
In the News...
Recent Media
On World Mental Health Day, Elisabeth spoke with Good Day DC about the importance of community. In June, Elisabeth was quoted in Parents Magazine discussing motherhood and mental health. In advance of Mother's Day, Elisabeth spoke with ABC Fresno and ABC Grand Rapids about women and mental health. In honor of International Women's Day and Women's History Month, Elisabeth was a guest on Fox Nashville, CBS Baltimore and CBS Albany in March to discuss women and mental health. Elisabeth was also a guest on Fox's Good Day DC in March to discuss Gambling Addiction, in December to discuss strategies for navigating holiday stress and in October for World Mental Health Day to discuss strengthening relational connections.
Podcast
Elisabeth is a host of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW's) podcast, Social Work Talks podcast. Recent episodes include a discussion about Psychedelic Assisted Therapy, a conversation about why It's Never Too Late to Become a Therapist and an interview with legendary couples therapist Terry Real. Elisabeth also worked with NASW as a member (2021-2023) and chair (2023-2025) of their Private Practice Committee.
Active Media Contributor
Elisabeth has been published in numerous publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post. Elisabeth’s article in The Washington Post about how films can be used in therapy as a change is supplemented by a comprehensive cinema therapy blog accessible below. In April 2025 she spoke with Huffington Post about the ostrich effect and the current challenges facing federal employees. October 2024, she spoke with Axios about election-related anxiety. She also blogs for Psychology Today. Recent posts discuss the series Shrinking and the film A Real Pain.
Spencer in the Media
In November 2024 Spencer spoke with Huffington Post about the differences between gentle parenting and gentle partnering. Spencer also spoke with the Huffington Post about Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) for romantic partners and about Prince Harry's new book Spare. In July 2022, Spencer spoke with Huffington Post and gave thoughtful commentary about patterns rarely seen in healthy relationships and about working through marital challenges. Spencer also writes about the therapeutic value of music in the therapy jam sessions blog below.
Romantic Partnerships
Elisabeth was quoted in Buzzfeed about the unfortunate dating strategy of cushioning - lining up potential future romantic partners while dating someone who thinks the relationship is exclusive. She also spoke with Huffington Post about how an anchoring bias can play out in romantic partnerships and Spencer spoke with Huffington Post about Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) for romantic partners. Last January, Elisabeth spoke with Huffington Post about division of household labor.
Elisabeth also spoke with WFLA in Tampa about fidelity and cushioning one romantic relationship with the next. And Spencer gave compelling commentary to Huffington Post and then to Care.com about the concept of "weaponized incompetence".
Taylor’s Version
Spencer spoke with Huffington Post about Taylor’s Swifts amazing re-recordings. In Defense Of Still Feeling Sad About A 3-Month Relationship. huffpost.com
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How Might We Observe World Mental Health Day?
Friday, October 10th was World Mental Health Day—a time to focus globally on emotional well-being. Established in 1992 by the…
What is the Ostrich Effect?
This month I spoke with Huffington Post about the “Ostrich Effect” and the link will lead you to the article;…
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