Dr. Earl Ellis

I am a licensed psychologist with twenty years of clinical practice working primarily with Black men. My training is in cognitive-behavioral therapy, with additional training in interpersonal therapy and the psychodynamic tradition. I hold a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. My practice is in Washington, D.C., and I see clients in person at my consulting room and via video for clients in other parts of the U.S.

I came to this work the long way around. I trained at a university psychology program in the early 2000s in a cohort where I was the only Black male graduate student. The training was strong but did not prepare me for the specific work I would do once I started seeing patients. The clinical literature was not, at the time, particularly attuned to the experience of Black men in the United States. I spent the first decade of my practice catching up on what graduate school did not teach me, and continuing to learn from the men who trusted me enough to do the work with me.

My clinical focus is on adult men with depression, anxiety, complicated grief, identity issues, and the broader category of midlife reckoning. I am especially attuned to the way these conditions present in Black men. The depressed Black man often does not describe himself as depressed; he describes himself as tired, irritable, disconnected, going through the motions. The anxious Black man often presents with somatic complaints before he presents with the cognitive content of his anxiety. The grieving Black man often does not have a vocabulary for grief and presents with anger or withdrawal long after a loss that family members may have long since stopped acknowledging. I have learned to listen for these presentations and to work with them in ways that respect how Black men actually experience their own distress.

My approach is structured and time-limited where possible. I work in arcs of twelve to twenty sessions for most of my clinical work, with the understanding that some patients need longer engagement and that others come back for additional work years after the initial arc closes. The work tends to involve specific homework — thought records, behavioral experiments, communication practice, mindfulness exercises, occasional structured writing. I am not the right therapist for patients looking for unstructured supportive psychotherapy; for that work I will refer to colleagues in town who specialize in it.

My rates are at the senior end of the local market. I do not take insurance directly; I provide superbills that most patients can submit to their insurance for out-of-network reimbursement. I keep a small sliding-scale list for patients who would otherwise not be able to afford care; the list is reviewed quarterly and is often full. For patients seeking lower-cost care, I maintain a list of colleagues in town who take insurance directly and have specific expertise in working with Black men.

I will refer out for what I cannot help. Active psychosis, severe substance-use disorders, active eating disorders requiring specialized treatment, and personality-disorder presentations requiring dialectical behavior therapy are outside my scope. I have referral relationships with clinicians in the D.C. area who specialize in those areas.

If you are considering reaching out, the first useful step is to write me a brief note about what you are experiencing and what you are looking for. I read every note. I respond within a week, usually sooner. If we are a match for the clinical work, we set up a no-fee fifteen-minute consultation call. If we are not a match, I will tell you and I will help you find a clinician who is. There is no failure in not being a match; clinical fit is part of how this work goes well.