Elizabeth "Betsy" Conlan, LCSW

Everything in your life looks fine—so why does it feel like something is missing deep down?"

Many of the people I work with grew up in stable homes where their childhoods were seemingly "fine." But beneath the surface, they lacked caregivers who could truly mirror their feelings or validate their internal experiences.

When you grow up without that deep emotional attunement, you quickly learn to mask your needs, put others first, and rely entirely on yourself. If you are tired of carrying the quiet exhaustion of performing a "perfect" life, therapy offers a collaborative space to drop the armor and honor your authentic self.

Are you looking to deepen your connection with others and your authentic self?

Therapy can help you understand how you relate to the people in your life, including the patterns set early on that may no longer serve you. Our work is entirely collaborative: together, we will look at what is working, what is not, and what you want to change.

Are you navigating a major life transition?

Whether you're changing careers, stepping into retirement, grieving a loved one, becoming a parent, or adjusting to an empty nest, shifting into a new chapter can bring unexpected emotional waves. You don't have to navigate these shifts in isolation.

Do you ever feel like your brain is wired differently than the people around you?

Maybe you process information, sensory inputs, or emotions in a way that feels distinct from the norm. Often, people who think differently spend a lifetime trying to fit into a neurotypical mold, which leads to deep exhaustion.

I view neurodiversity not as a disorder to be fixed, but as a unique blueprint to be understood. If you are navigating the world as a neurodivergent individual—or suspect you might be—therapy can be a collaborative space to honor your unique strengths, manage your energy, and find strategies that actually align with how your brain works.

Neurological Conditions & Caregiver Support (Specialized clinical expertise for neurodegenerative conditions)

Have you or someone you love been diagnosed with a neurological condition like Parkinson's, dementia, or stroke?

I spent seven years at the Stanford Neuroscience Health Center working with people facing dementia, Parkinson's, stroke, and other life-altering conditions, as well as their families. Whether you are the patient or the person supporting them, I understand this territory deeply and can help you find your footing.

Areas of Focus & Common Challenges

If you are navigating any of the following, we can work together to help you find clarity and relief:

• Neurodivergent Affirming Care: ADHD, Autism, sensory processing, masking, and neuro-burnout.

•  Relational & Identity Growth: Overcoming people-pleasing, hyper-independence, and childhood emotional neglect.

• Life Stage Transitions: Career pivots, retirement, identity shifts, grief, and empty-nest adjustments.

• Neuro-Counseling & Caregiver Burnout: Navigating chronic or progressive diagnoses, processing medical trauma, and caregiver support. 

About Me

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than thirty years of clinical experience, including seven years spent at the Stanford Neuroscience Health Center. I believe deeply that therapeutic rapport is at the heart of meaningful change, which is why I prioritize building trust and a genuine connection from our very first session. My background across prestigious medical and mental health settings allows me to bring both deep clinical expertise and an adaptable, grounded presence to our partnership.

I offer sessions both in person in Redwood City, California, and virtually via a secure telehealth platform. To help you take the first step, I provide a free 15-minute initial consultation so we can explore working together.

My Approach

My practice is rooted in an integrative, non-pathologizing framework that views mental wellness along a continuum, rather than through a lens of dysfunction. Combining person-centered, strengths-based, and trauma-informed principles, I honor you as the expert on your own life. Our work together will always focus on your inherent resilience and capacity for healing.

Honor Your Story

Grounded in attachment theory and developmental psychology, I place immense value on our earliest life experiences. Quite often, the clients I work with feel their childhoods were "fine"—they didn't experience major, overt traumas, and their physical needs were well met. Yet, many carried a quiet, invisible burden: growing up with caregivers who weren't fully emotionally attuned, or who struggled to provide the consistent mirroring and emotional validation essential for healthy development.

Having caregivers who can mirror our feelings, co-regulate our nervous systems, and truly see our internal worlds is how we learn to feel secure in ourselves. When that emotional attunement is missing or disrupted during critical milestones—even in an otherwise safe home—it deeply impacts how we learn to navigate the world, protect our hearts, and handle relationships as adults.

Look Back with Compassion

Because of this, we often develop complex behavioral patterns and coping strategies when we are young. I invite you to look at those patterns with profound compassion. At one point in your life, those exact behaviors were brilliant, necessary adaptations designed to keep you safe and help you survive your early environment.

However, patterns that served a vital purpose when you were younger can begin to cause friction, anxiety, burnout, or disconnection in adulthood. When these old survival strategies no longer serve you, therapy offers a safe space to gently unravel them. Together, we will honor the parts of you that protected you for so long, while consciously cultivating new ways of being that align with who you are today.

Clinical Modalities

To support this deep, transformative process, I pull from a variety of evidence-based frameworks, tailoring our sessions to your unique nervous system and goals:

• Relational Psychodynamic Therapy: Exploring how early relationships and childhood development shape present behaviors.

• Attachment-Based & Neurobiologically-Informed Care: Focusing on emotional attunement, nervous system co-regulation, and mirroring.

• Component-Based & Trauma-Informed Parts Work: Acknowledging and healing the protective internal parts we develop when we are young.

• Humanistic, Non-Pathologizing Frameworks: Honoring the human experience along a natural spectrum, rather than assigning rigid disease-model labels.

• Practical Behavioral Tools (CBT, DBT, ACT): Utilizing cognitive reframing, mindfulness, and self-compassion to actively shift old patterns in your daily life.

Specialized Therapeutic Modalities

In addition to traditional talk therapy and behavioral strategies, I offer unique paths for accessing deeper healing:

• Psychedelic & Ketamine Integration: Offering essential education, preparation, and integration support to safely process and ground your experiences.

• Sand Tray Therapy: Utilizing a powerful, expressive modality to gently access and explore unconscious or non-verbal emotional material.