Elina Filippova, LCSW

Education & Training

Elina Filippova has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from University of California Berkeley and her Masters in Social Work from San Francisco State University. Elina is trained and experienced in Voice Dialogue, Mind Body Medicine, and Motivational Interviewing.

Elina’s Journey

Elina was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. During the split of the Soviet Union, Elina moved to the US at 20 years old and started a family. She worked in restaurants, attended classes at City College of San Francisco to learn English, and eventually transferred to UC Berkeley to pursue a degree in Psychology — all while raising two young girls.

After graduating from UC Berkeley, Elina found her calling in international adoption, specifically working with families in the US and looking to adopt in Russia and Eastern Europe. She ran an adoption agency for 10 years helping families adopt children, which allowed her to get unique insight into the identity questions and behavioral issues of adopted children and the emotional ramifications of infertility on a family. She traveled to over 60 countries for her work and leisure.

Although she enjoyed dedicating 10 years of her life to helping others and running her business, she eventually suffered from stress and burnout. She decided that it was time to pause her busy life to travel and discover her next calling.

She moved from busy Bay Area life to the remote countryside of Clear Lake and worked for Mendocino County Mental Health and Veterans Affairs in Lake county.

“Living in a remote area allowed me to spend more time with just myself away from the distractions of constant stimuli. I was closing one chapter of my life, and I was not sure what would be next. I called that stage of my life my limbo stage. It was scary at first, not knowing what I want next, however looking back, this limbo stage allowed me to get a deeper understanding of my personal issues as well as become more aware of the collective, more broad human struggles. My own burn out was an eye opener how stress can alter a person’s life , mental health, and over all health. While seeking my own recovery from burn out I decided not to use medication immediately offered by traditional medicine practitioners. I did not want to become dependent on medication. Instead I decided to try things I was previously skeptical of and see for myself if it will work for me. I read lots of literature, practiced yoga, meditation, etc. and now 8 years later I am in better physical and emotional health than I ever been before."

Elina completed several trainings in techniques she valued the most such as Voice Dialogue and Mind Body Medicine. “I tried several therapeutic modalities and I was aware that therapy was not really working for me and that eventually its just gets boring. it was a blessing to discover modalities that really helped me to move through my own resistance and get a unique understanding of human functioning.”

Elina defines her ideal client as someone who is interested in self-discovery and is determine to live a fulfilling life. Elina’s approach is somewhat non-traditional and fun.

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