About Elena
Elena Balashova-Shamis is a California psychologist with 23 years of clinical experience. She holds the CA Psychologist credential PSY20104 and offers care in both English and Russian. Her work focuses on stress, anxiety, relationships, trauma and abuse, grief, and depression.
She uses an integrative approach tailored to each person’s needs. Sessions aim to identify patterns that keep problems going and to build practical ways to manage symptoms. Conversations move at a steady, clear pace so people can try out changes between visits.
Background and approach
Elena draws on years of teaching and mentoring at local universities, including roles with UCLA’s medical school. That background informs a thoughtful, research-aware practice. She often combines long-term insight with short-term strategies depending on what someone needs.
People who come to her for help with abandonment, attachment, body image, caregiver stress, commitment or communication difficulties will find focused, concrete work. She also addresses grief, eating and food-related concerns, dissociation, and first responder issues. Sessions cover coping skills and ways to rebuild daily routines.
Elena offers several formats for remote care and helps people learn how to use them. For someone juggling work, family, or irregular hours, she aims to make therapy fit everyday life. Her approach centers on clear goals, steady progress, and adjusting methods to suit each person.
Evidence-based approaches and online flexibility
Elena uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that combine insight and skills. One common approach focuses on understanding attachment and relationship patterns to reduce anxiety and improve communication; it helps people notice repeating patterns and try new behaviors. Another approach emphasizes coping skills for trauma, grief, and acute stress, teaching paced strategies for managing intense emotions and grounding during distress.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with each person about their goals, symptoms, and preferences, then suggest methods to try together. Plans are adjusted over time based on what helps most, and progress is reviewed regularly to keep work focused and practical.
Online therapy is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different lifestyles. Video lets people use face-to-face interaction when helpful, while phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and messaging support shorter check-ins, reflections between sessions, and timely skill practice. These options make it easier to fit therapy around work, caregiving, and other commitments while keeping momentum between visits.
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Eating and food-related issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
- Experience
- 23 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English, Russian
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