Elizabeth H. Winston, Ph.D.

Elizabeth H. Winston, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist with 15 years of experience in psychotherapy and psychological assessment. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with degrees in Psychology and French. Elizabeth received her Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. She completed her internship/residency at the Minneapolis VA Hospital.

Elizabeth has a wide range of experience working with veterans at the Madison VA Hospital and with community members as a staff psychologist at The Psychology Center. Elizabeth opened her own private practice in 2010. She is pleased to join forces with Dr. Peter Jackson and Dr. Lisa Baker in creating Shorewood Psychology – integrating assessment and therapy for lasting change.

Born in New York City and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Elizabeth has experience with and appreciation for a wide range of people, locales and perspectives. She lives in Madison with her husband and three children and enjoys indie rock music, good food, art, and the lakes.

Areas of Expertise

Psychotherapy: Elizabeth helps people who typically function well but are facing challenges in their lives such as: anxiety, depression, over- or under-performing at work or in school, extreme work stress, feeling overwhelmed, work/family balance, parenting.

Elizabeth has expertise in working with health care providers, including physicians and mental health professionals. She also works with financial professionals, attorneys, professors, and undergraduate, graduate and professional students. Her knowledge of the particular stressors of these fields allows her to provide specialized help with managing workload, negotiating difficult relationships and navigating challenging systems.

Elizabeth is active and engaged in therapy. Clients typically feel understood and cared for by Elizabeth and are therefore open to making changes and improvements in their lives. Elizabeth provides insights and suggestions and offers different perspectives so that clients may make more informed and aware decision about their lives. She uses both cognitive-behavioral and insight-oriented approaches. Many clients say that Elizabeth is the most helpful therapist they have ever worked with.

Couples and Family Therapy: Elizabeth does brief therapy with low-conflict couples and adult families to help clarify expectations, cultivate empathy and find common ground.

Assessment: Fertility/Surrogacy: Elizabeth has conducted dozens of assessments in the area of third party reproduction, primarily in assessing the psychological suitability of a woman to be a gestational surrogate and also for egg and sperm donors. A member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), Elizabeth follows the ASRM guidelines for these evaluations and makes recommendations accordingly. She also follows American Psychological Association guidelines for assessment.

Note: Elizabeth has considerable training in psychological assessment in general and with the MMPI-2 in particular. Administration and interpretation of the MMPI-2 and other psychological tests should only be conducted by doctoral level psychologists who have extensive assessment training.

Collaborative Assessment: Elizabeth and her colleagues at Shorewood Psychology are excited to introduce a cutting edge approach to psychological assessment, which is highly collaborative. In this type of assessment, the client is helped to identify questions about their problems in living or places where they are stuck. We use well-validated and commonly used psychological tests, such as the MMPI-2 and the Rorschach inkblot test, to work with the client to answer these pressing questions. Collaborative assessment is a friendly partnership and is approached with an attitude of curiosity and discovery. Clients often report feeling deeply understood and able to effect significant change in their lives.

Consultation: Elizabeth provides consultation to colleagues regarding therapeutic or assessment challenges. Multiple approaches to consultation are offered such as telephone or in-person discussion, a 1-time meeting with the client or client and therapist together, or a collaborative assessment with the client.

Community: Elizabeth writes for local publications, such as Madison Essentials Magazine and Journey of Aging about current topics in mental health. She is also a member of Consulting Collaborative, a community-based business consulting group.

Payment: Elizabeth does not work with health insurance companies. Psychotherapy and assessment are paid for at the time of service with cash, check or credit card. We provide a statement which you can submit to your insurer, who may reimburse you for a portion of your cost, depending on your policy.