Meet Elizabeth D Winkler, LMFT in Beverly Hills

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Winkler.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Elizabeth. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a child, a light flickered in me and it became a flame once I saw how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. created a stream of love through an ocean of hate. This was what I knew, I wanted to bring to the planet, however small. I was determined that each step, breath, and interaction be one of love and light. Then at the age of nineteen, my mother passed and although this was tragic and painful, it ended up paving a road for me to help many others through grief and suffering up to this day. I found psychology in college and knew it was my calling. I have been fortunate to work in clinics, hospitals and private practices which have developed my abilities as a growing therapist.

From working intensely in the HIV/AIDS community with children, couples, and adults to being a strong component of the Palliative Care Department at a hospital facing grief and death/dying issues. I am now a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist practicing in Beverly Hills, CA. With my clients I point to places where one can untether from painful stories, release stored pain, and expand into the vast space inside that was often being ignored. A few years ago, I started to incorporate mindfulness and meditation to help accelerate my clients’ personal growth and expansion. By directing them through mindful practices, clients become able to navigate through the many weather patterns of emotion. As this process deepens, clients come to know and live from their deepest truth. They are no longer guided by their fearful mind because they are willing and able to jump into the unknown space where they find abundance and possibility. Gratefully I am given the opportunity to help clients of all ages on this path of awakening and self-realization.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Learning how to run your own private practice is challenging. I wasn’t educated in business development, I was solely following my heart. My heart always led me on a path of understanding, but I had no understanding of building my business. I had to learn. This learning came from finding my niche, and my niche came through my own real-life challenges at home. I had been practicing for many years and my own marriage was falling apart. I had two children and I knew my family had to find a new way to evolve. Through my own separation process, I was forced to look at my choices. I discovered that divorce didn’t have to be ugly, tattered, and torn. Divorce is definitely not easy, but I found a way to navigate this obstacle mindfully so that every member of the family could evolve. This is what I call Mindful Untethering and it is set up into five tenets which allow couples and families to grow and evolve through divorce and beyond.

Please tell us about Elizabeth D Winkler, LMFT.
I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has provided therapy on Bravo and OWN. I am a featured blogger for celebrity attorney Laura Wasser’s divorce platform, It’s Over Easy. It’s Over Easy helps individuals, couples, and families mindfully untether from marriages in an easy and economical way. Laura and I both hope to change the face of divorce globally by helping families navigate this process the easy way. At the time of separation, each family is forced to decide what type of bridge they will create for their children. One can build a strong and abundant bridge that their children can gleefully run back and forth on or one that feels similar to the insecurity of the rickety bridge in Indiana Jones. I help clients create bridges of kindness, healing, understanding, and compassion. One has the opportunity to grow more happiness and love by letting go of their own agenda and focusing on the whole family.

As I mentioned earlier, integrating mindfulness into my work with clients has deepened their process exponentially. I call mindfulness the bullet train to freedom. What used to take clients months in talk therapy now was clearing in a 20-minute meditation. This made me very curious and interested in facilitating more effective treatment for my clients and groups. Given that I have seen so many adults suffering from their history, I decided I wanted to bring some focus to teaching children these effective techniques. I’d love to turn the tide by giving children the tools to effectively process emotion starting at a young age. Since then I have created a mindfulness process called Heart Surgery which empowers children as young as 5 years old to be their own facilitator for digesting and releasing painful emotions from their emotional heart. The process is effective and fun for kids as well. My team is now putting together a kit for kids, families, and teachers in order spread this powerful and effective process. This way, when on airplanes, at public meals, or in the car the child has a resource that they use and eventually will master. My vision is to get Heart Surgery Kits to families, teachers, and children all over the globe with the hope that these children will be more present and mindful and less fearful and guarded.

The effectiveness of mindfulness has motivated me to teach children with the vision of a happier and healthier planet. Each week, I have the pleasure of going to a few LAUSD elementary classrooms where I get to teach children the gift of mindfulness and presence. Each time, I realize the true teachers are the children. Since then, I have brought my mindfulness teachings into classrooms, homes, athletes across the country, mothers and children, and more.

To expand even further, I have started ‘Traveling Mindfulness with Elizabeth Winkler’ where individuals gather friends, family, teammates, or coworkers to host an event where I am welcomed in to spread my love for mindfulness and the power of presence. I offer many different topics of discussion and activities which include but are not limited to Heart Surgery, Mindful Untethering, Mindful Moms & Conscious Kids, and Consciousness groups grounded in books (i.e. Untethered Soul, A New Earth).

I offer transformative retreats to clients that want a more intensive experience, This several day experiences will shed old habit patterns and beliefs, and result in a deeper awakening to one’s truth and abundant creative energy. I am partnering with another retreat company launching soon in Malibu which will provide a holistic approach to healing from the inside out.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would not change one thing. I am grateful for all the challenges, as I have learned the most from them. I often say that my work is all about making lemonade with the lemons I am given. I guess the one piece of advice I would give to my younger self is to be friends with the unknown. What I call living in the question mark. When we fearlessly embrace the uncertainty of the present moment we open to the abundant opportunities that live here, now. The other option is to cling to what we want or don’t want which keeps one tethered to a very limited experience that often doesn’t go the way we hoped or planned. Maybe we need to go through the challenges of holding on to control and trying to figure it all out until we realize that simply doesn’t work. Through surrendering control, we come to see it is ok to not know and we can be creative with what happens as life unfolds.

Pricing:

• Individual Sessions- 200/50 minutes in my office, 300/50 mins in the home
• Groups based on Books, Mindfulness & Meditation 125/group
• Skype/Facetime Mindfulness Coaching 120/30min. 200/50min
• Traveling Mindfulness-various offerings with fees depending on travel and size of groups.

Contact Info:

• Address: 152 South Lasky Drive
  Penthouse Suite
  Beverly Hills, CA 90212
• Website: www.elizabethwinkler.com
• Phone: 310-463-2444
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @ewinklertherapy

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