Liz Casline, PhD

Liz Casline

Liz Casline,

Ph.D.

She/her

My goal is to use the therapy space to help clients develop a deeper understanding of their emotional experiences and increase their use of effective emotion regulation skills so that they can reach their goals and improve their relationships.

I entered the field of psychology when I realized that many youth and young adults receive insufficient support when facing the unique challenges of navigating development and growth towards independence, while also experiencing increased stress or difficulty managing emotions. As such, the core of my work is with youth, young adults, and families. This focus is rooted in my belief that youth and young adults deserve to have a trusted adult who provides non-judgmental validation of their emotional experiences, respects their individual strengths and needs, and supports them in building an understanding of themselves and their emotions.

Specialties:

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Irritability and Anger
  • Stress and Performance
  • LGBT and Queer
  • Grief
  • Parenting

I am a cognitive-behavioral therapist (CBT), meaning that I believe our experiences of emotions are shaped by the relationship between three components: the physical sensations we have in the body, the thoughts in our mind, and the actions we take. CBT can help people build an understanding of their emotions, develop emotion regulation skills, manage chronic stressors, and work towards their goals. I also integrate knowledge from mindfulness and acceptance-focused therapy.

An essential part of helping clients succeed in therapy is developing a shared understanding of the goals of therapy and the treatment process being used to reach those goals. For young adults, this process can help with navigating independent decision-making and goal setting. Shared understanding is also important for youth and caregivers because they do not always agree on the reasons for attending therapy or can have different views on potential solutions to the youth's challenges - including what support their caregivers can provide. As such, developing a collaborative relationship and shared understanding is the first focus of therapy and is an important on-going component of care.

I also take a transdiagnostic approach to therapy. This means the focus of therapy is on addressing transdiagnostic factors: the thoughts and actions that are underlying and shared across mental health diagnoses. If mental health diagnoses are the branches on a tree, transdiagnostic factors are the tree trunk.

In addition to my work at Tandem Psychology, I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine where I conduct implementation science research to increase the use of scientific findings in practice and improve patient outcomes. My personal research is focused on improving community-based mental and behavioral health care services for youth. I have authored over twenty publications and have presented my research at national conferences. I completed my doctoral training in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in child and adolescent psychology from the University of Miami and my pre-doctoral clinical fellowship at the Children's Hospital Colorado, where I obtained specialty training with gender diverse youth and their families. I am certified in the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents and Children.