About Janel
Janel "Elle" Zimmerman is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people manage stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and the fallout from trauma and abuse. She writes and talks in plain terms and aims to make therapy feel approachable for people who are worried or overwhelmed. Elle draws on 14 years of experience in Florida to offer practical tools and steady support.
Sessions focus on small, doable steps that reduce distress and improve daily functioning.
Background and approach
She emphasizes listening first, then tailoring strategies to real-life routines. Her approach combines evidence-informed methods with a warm, non-judgmental stance. Elle uses techniques that help people notice unhelpful patterns, build emotional skills, and choose values-based actions.
Therapy sessions are collaborative and paced to match each person’s needs. She also works with concerns like abandonment, attachment struggles, chronic illness and pain, caregiver stress, body image, communication and control issues. Elle helps people navigate life changes such as aging, blended family stress, cancer, and co-occurring conditions without assuming one-size-fits-all answers.
People who prefer straightforward guidance will find clear skills and planning in sessions, along with room to talk through feelings. Elle supports gradual change while respecting each person’s pace and priorities.
How her approaches translate to online therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people clarify what matters to them and take small actions toward those values. It is useful for anxiety, depression, and coping with life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at thoughts and behaviors and teaches practical skills to reduce symptoms and change unhelpful patterns. It often helps with anxiety, depression, and mood regulation. Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relationships shape how people connect today and can help with abandonment, attachment issues, and relationship-related distress.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. Elle will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t helped before. Together they decide which methods to try and adjust them over time so the plan fits real life and feels manageable.
Online sessions come as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to match different needs. Video is good for face-to-face conversations; phone can be easier when bandwidth is limited or for a shorter check-in. Live chat and text let people work through things in smaller moments across the week. These options make it simpler to fit therapy into busy schedules and maintain continuity during life changes.
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does Elle commonly help with?
What is her general therapy style?
How much experience does she have?
What credentials and location are listed?
Which languages are sessions offered in?
Can people outside the United States work with her?
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How are fees and starting therapy handled?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Bipolar disorder
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- 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
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 14 years
- Licensed
- Florida
- Languages
- English