Ellen B. Klyce, M.A.

So when I went to Ellen Klyce, I was embarrassed by how much I needed her help. I had been under stress for quite some time and suffered a few losses (death, house/​car fire damage, multiple moves) within a short period of time in quick succession. I was devastated over it. As a result, I was having difficulty concentrating and controlling my emotions. That bothered me because I take pride in my ability to take care of myself and the people I love. But I was so distraught with grief, I found myself unable to function normally. Once I realized that I was not coping well on my own, I reached out to my EAP provider for help.
They recommended Ellen. When I first went to Ellen, I was skeptical. First of all, it was super crazy easy to get an appointment with her which made me wonder why she was so readily available. She also played the sounds of the ocean in the waiting room outside her office. I mean, not only did the ocean sounds make me want to pee (which sucked, because you need to get a key from Ellen to do it) but I never understood peoples’ fondness for ARTIFICIAL nature sounds. The frequency & volume at which the waves crash made me feel like I should run for the woods to escape the tidal waves.. . that’s so NOT comforting. Luckily, she only played ocean sounds. I would have flipped out at the first screeching monkey attack if jungle sounds were her preference. I have, btw, since grown to appreciate the noise since it drowns out our private conversations & outside noise. I like to Unilocal my crazy rather than let others eavesdrop in on it, thank you very much.
But I digress. .. when I first met Ellen, she reminded me of a younger, prettier version of Melissa Etheridge so I was deeply concerned that she would force me to attend the next Lilith Fair or something. .. just kidding, although I do find the Lilith Fair QUITE intimidating, I was mostly concerned about going to therapy in general & what that meant about me…
There was something calming about Ellen. She’s a great listener & allows me to talk about myself endlessly (or an hour straight) without her dozing off. Unbelievable, I know, since I’m an Ah-​mazzzz-​ZING subject but even I usually doze off after only 15 minutes of self-​reflection — in fact, I dozed off 3 times during this review alone & am sure you did too.. .
But that’s not why I like her so much. Listening (or at least pretending to listen) is a minimal requirement of her profession. I like her because I get the sense that she GENUINELY cares & wants to help others. Look, I’m a DIY type of gal so I tend to close myself off & focus on fixing problems BY MYSELF when I’m under duress. That causes problems for me since I don’t accept help from others well & will even become WARY of others when in distress. So her authenticity really helped in breaking down my walls.
She was also ridiculously patient with me. You know the ocean noise rant? Well poor Ms. Klyce heard the extended version of it. I also had to tap my foot to keep myself from questioning her choice of ridiculously small business cards. Although I’m a closet environmentalist myself, I believe in SOME practicality & wanted to lecture her about the importance of advertising properly.
Anyways, my point is, everyone reaches a roadblock in life that they need help with & sometimes it takes strength to admit a need. 6 weeks later, I now realize that my misfortune IS an opportunity to change (to reduce stresses in my life & re-​prioritize). I wasn’t sure if I should write a review (TMI about my personal life & because I STILL see her) but her influence was too important for me not to share. So at the risk of exposing my underbelly to a sociopathic troll, I want to thank you, Ms. Klyce, I hope you don’t Unilocal but, if you do, you are way too wonderful to ignore.