LIz Duston

Practicum student UNder the supervision of Jill Tucker, LPC-S

Hi, I’m Liz. I help people make sense of the stories that shape their lives. My passion for storytelling began in a long career in media before I transitioned into therapy. I believe everyone deserves to be seen and understood. Life is full of unexpected turns, and sometimes it helps to have a guide to figure out the next chapter. That’s why I became a therapist: to walk alongside you as you navigate the story you’re living and imagine what comes next.

I work with teens and adults, bringing humor, curiosity, and compassion into the process. Therapy is a collaborative journey, and my role is to help you find clarity and movement when things feel uncertain.

My focus areas include sleep, anxiety, relationships, and depression. Sleep plays a vital role in well-being—when it’s disrupted, anxiety often worsens, mood drops, and connections with others become strained. I help clients break down the barriers to healthy sleep and learn practical strategies for long-term balance. Instead of relying on endless online tips and quick fixes, I provide a clear, evidence-based approach to getting rest that restores both body and mind.

My style is integrative and behavior-focused, blending mindfulness with cognitive behavioral strategies. I often draw on elements of DBT for its flexibility and effectiveness, and I’m currently training in CBT-I for insomnia and CBT-H for hypersomnia. These tools allow me to offer specialized support for clients navigating a wide range of sleep-related challenges.

Sleep is personal for me. Living with multiple sleep disorders, including idiopathic hypersomnia, has shaped both my perspective and my practice. I know how exhausting it can feel to struggle with sleep and how frustrating it is when the world doesn’t fully understand. Learning to manage hypersomnia has given me both resilience and hope, and I’m passionate about helping others discover the possibility of living fully, even with complex sleep issues.

Outside of therapy, I’m a cinephile and love weaving film into sessions as a way to explore emotions and experiences that can be difficult to put into words. Before becoming a therapist, I worked in artificial intelligence, leading a team that trained large language and vision-language models at a major tech company. That experience continues to fuel my curiosity about the intersection of technology and mental health, including its potential and its challenges.

Life can sometimes feel like a dream that doesn’t quite make sense. Together, we can explore it with compassion, creativity, and even a little laughter.