ELKA CUBACUB, LSW (she/her)
Associate
Elka is committed to helping patients gain the tools to live better in this moment while also diving into the deeper roots of their distress. Her approach to therapy is informed by mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and internal family systems. She believes “the key to growth is in welcoming every aspect of yourself, your body, and your story.” As a RYT-200 certified yoga instructor, she draws on the mind-body connection and has led therapeutic yoga workshops. She also has training and experience providing dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT).
Specializing in treating eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and psychosis, she believes no one is defined by their dysfunction. “At the center of every person, there is something healthy, whole and beautiful,” she says. “Most symptoms develop as means of avoiding overwhelming experiences. These begin to heal as we integrate the parts of ourselves that feel hurt, afraid, or shameful.”
Elka’s clinical background includes working with adolescents with eating disorders, mood disorders (depression, anxiety, bipolar, self-harm), and addiction/substance use disorders at a partial hospitalization program. There, she provided individual, family, and group therapy. She likewise supported adolescents and their families while volunteering for the National Runaway Safeline. As a parent herself, Elka appreciates the depth and complexity of the parent-child relationship.
Psychotic conditions, including schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, are another key focus of Elka’s therapeutic background and interests. In long-term residential care, she worked with over 100 individuals experiencing delusions, hallucinations, and other altered mind states. She also provided therapy and case management for a First Episode Psychosis program geared to young adults experiencing these conditions for the first time. She is deeply influenced by Compassion for Voices, a movement that views voice-hearing as a valid and meaningful window into a person’s inner world.
In addition to individual and family therapy, Elka created and leads a targeted group-based program for binge eating focused on tangible ways of regulating appetite, resisting urges, and releasing helplessness and shame.
Elka completed her bachelor's degree at Hebrew Theological College with a major in psychology. She earned her master’s degree in social work at University of Illinois Chicago with a specialization in mental health. As part of her studies, Elka conducted research on mindfulness meditation and self-transcendence in people with chronic pain and opioid misuse.