EP 373: Trust, Science, And The Conversations That Save Relationships

What makes Dr. Lisa Eliason with Hidden Lakes Counseling a good neighbor?

Need a clearer path to a calmer home and a closer relationship? We sit down with Dr. Lisa Eliason from Hidden Lakes Counseling to explore how evidence-based counseling, sex therapy, and a coordinated team approach can turn messy patterns into workable plans. From couples on the brink to families juggling child behavior, anxiety, and intimacy challenges, we map the real tools that move people forward without judgment or jargon.

Lisa shares her journey into couples counseling and certified sex therapy, and we dig into the biggest myths that keep people from seeking help—like the belief that love should come naturally or that therapy is just criticism. We unpack what sex therapy actually looks like: talk-based sessions addressing desire differences, pain disorders, erectile dysfunction, performance anxiety, and the emotional threads that make or break physical connection. The conversation is practical and candid, grounded in research and delivered with empathy for couples who feel unsure, private, or overwhelmed.

What sets Hidden Lakes apart is the power of a 13-expert team under one roof. Need play therapy for a child while you work on conflict in your marriage? Want medication support alongside anxiety treatment that’s affecting your sex life? This integrated model helps families access the right specialist at the right time—without starting from scratch. Lisa also shares three cornerstone skills that change the tone at home fast: how to call a timeout before things spiral, how to use an “I feel” statement that lands, and how to listen so your partner feels understood. She’s even posted free videos to help you practice between sessions.

If you’re ready to replace guesswork with guidance, this conversation offers a roadmap: clearer language, smarter boundaries, and a team that can connect the dots across mental health, intimacy, and family life. Listen, share with someone who needs it, and subscribe for more conversations that make help feel closer than you think. If the episode resonated, leave a review and tell us which skill you’ll try first.

 To learn more about Hidden Lakes Counseling, go to
 🔗 https://www.hiddenlakescounseling.com/counselors-3/lisaelieson/

Hidden Lakes Counseling

817-854-3201 ext. 702

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_01 (00:10):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a counselor?
Well, one may be closer than youthink.
Today, I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Dr.
Lisa Eliason with Hidden LakesCounseling.
Dr.
Lisa, how are you today?

SPEAKER_00 (00:26):
I'm good.
Thanks for inviting me.

SPEAKER_01 (00:29):
Yes, now we are excited to learn all about you
and your business.
Can you start off by telling ourlisteners just a little bit
about your company and yourbackstory?

SPEAKER_00 (00:39):
Sure.
Now, Hidden Lakes Counseling iswe have an in-person office
several in Keller, but we doonline counseling across the
nation in different, dependingon licensure of different
therapists.
But essentially we have a teamof 13 counselors with all
different specialties.
And I mean, from we have a nursepractitioner who does
medication, we have playtherapists, we have a sports

(01:00):
counselor, which is prettyinteresting.
Specialties in couples, anxiety,depression, just the gambit of
things because we have such abig team of counselors.
We can address lots of issues.
My specialty in particular is Iwork with couples and sex
therapy.
So I have the coolest fun jobwhere I get to talk about sex
all day, which is pretty cool.

(01:21):
That is essentially what HiddenLikes Counseling does.

SPEAKER_01 (01:25):
Now, how did you originally get into this
business?
And why was this your chosenarea of expertise?

SPEAKER_00 (01:33):
Okay, I, you know, I I discovered about myself pretty
when I was in college, prettyyoung, that I love the study of
human behavior.
I love talking to people andwhere those places merge, of
course, is in the counselingoffice.
In particular, I ended up incouples counseling because I
came out of Texas Women'sUniversity with my master's.
And if you've been over there atTWU, you know they talk about

(01:56):
family a lot in their counselingprogram and couples work.
If you're talking about womenespecially, then you're also
talking about the families theyoperate in.
So I worked for couples for adecade before I just concluded
that when I have couples insession, often they're fighting
about sex as a part of thatconversation.
So I went back and did the extraeducation to get to become a

(02:17):
certified sex therapist.
And now I'm also trainingcounselors in the field and
teaching quite a bit too, on topof that.
So um, but yeah, I noticed thatespecially the niche I'm in, I
often work with a lot ofconservative couples who might
be afraid to come and get helpfor sexuality.
And so they come into my officeand I felt like I may be the

(02:38):
only person that they talk toabout what's really happening to
them as a couple.
And I felt if I'm gonna be thatperson they trust, I need to
have good science and goodinformation to share with them
to really help thoserelationships come together and
improve for both of them.
So that's why I went and did theextra work so that I can help
for those people who trust mewith so much personal

(02:58):
information.

SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Now, I can already tell this is gonna be an
interesting conversation today,but what is the most common myth
or misconception in yourindustry when it comes to this
subject?

SPEAKER_00 (03:12):
Okay, I'll give you two of them.
Because I think counseling ingeneral, one of the myths with
counseling, well, maybe a coupleof them are there's lots, but is
I think people become afraid tocome to counseling because
they're afraid it's just gonnabe criticism and beating them up
emotionally and really negative.
And I think when they get intocounseling with a good counselor
who's has training andexperience, they find that

(03:34):
counselor actually is positiveabout them and wants to take and
develop their strengths toovercome things that are causing
them stress.
They don't, I guess counselorsare training is to give them new
ideas to face challengingproblems they hold.
Um I think the there's sometimessome myths that people might
have that we should just be bornknowing how relationships work

(03:55):
and knowing how to makeourselves happy.
And the truth is that there'sactual science and research that
goes into the patterns ofbehavior that make things work
more easily.
And so I think instead of tryingto fix it ourselves the hard
way, go talk to those people whostudied it for years and have
really looked at patterns ofbehavior that can improve in a
positive direction.

(04:16):
Um now, as a sex therapist, youcan imagine a lot of people ask
me what is sex therapy, and theyoften confuse it with thinking
we're just gonna talk aboutsexual addiction.
And it's more than that.
It's it's talking about umwhat's probably the most common
in my office is desiredifferences in couples or
sometimes pain disorders thatmight be making sex difficult or

(04:37):
erectile dysfunction issues, um,or even just emotional
connection in couples.
So I think a lot of people getnervous to come to a sex
therapist because they think,oh, that's weird, what are we
gonna do?
And they get you know kind ofscared of that.
Well, like trust me, sex therapyis only talk therapy.
There will be no no nakedness oranything to get nervous about.
But again, understanding what'sin the literature, especially

(05:00):
between genders that are commondifferences that people struggle
with that we really just don'ttalk about culturally enough.

SPEAKER_01 (05:08):
Most definitely, most definitely.
Well, and I think emotions linkto intimacy a lot, a lot more
than people give credit to.
And I think that's really theheart a lot of the times of the
issues.

unknown (05:24):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
Now we know marketing is the heart of every
business.
We already know who are yourtarget uh clients.
So who is your target audience?
And in terms of marketing, howdo you attract them?

SPEAKER_00 (05:38):
You know, gosh, we have lots of different
directions we go with marketing.
I mean, like I said, I have 13counselors with 13 different
specialties that hidden linkscounseling.
So, you know, we have somedifferent advertising things we
do, different speakingengagements we do.
Um, certainly the word of mouthof our prior prior clients has
been hugely beneficial in thenetworks and relationships we

(05:58):
build.
Um, so you know, while myspecialties couples and sex
therapy, there's somefascinating specialties, like,
you know, like I said, we havethat sports counselor.
We even have a counselor who'swho understands adventure
therapy and how to go and do funthings as a part of a
therapeutic process.
So lots of diverse perspectives.
And the beauty of having such acool team that we work with is

(06:20):
like if I'm working with acouple and they have an issue
with their child, well, I got toplay therapist right across the
hall.
We can go pull them in and worktogether as a team to solve
that.
Or hey, this person's strugglingwith depression and that's
making their sex life difficult.
I got a person across the hallwho's who can prescribe
medication and get us started onhow do we work as a team to

(06:41):
confront the issues thatfamilies are having.
Um, so you know, we kind of areall marketing different places.
You'll see people from my officespeaking in different events for
different specialties, you know,all the time.
So marketing is quite a bigprocess.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (06:58):
Now, have you ever thought about having your own
podcast?

SPEAKER_00 (07:01):
Um occasionally.
I do have uh a little bit onYouTube.
I do have a Facebook followingthat I put my videos on nowadays
for training.
I have a couple books out thereon Amazon.
So um anybody wants to follow meon Facebook, it's at Dr.
Eliason.
And so, and my my name is onAmazon.
So um, yeah, so I don't thinkI've gotten as great as you

(07:24):
have, Sophia, structuring agreat podcast with ongoing
episodes.
That's certainly that takes alot of work in and of itself to
do.

SPEAKER_01 (07:34):
Now, um, outside of work, what do you like to do for
fun?

unknown (07:39):
For fun.

SPEAKER_00 (07:39):
Okay, we've already established my favorite thing is
to study human behavior.
This is literally most of thethings I read and study is this.
But if I go non-work related,well, I like reading for fun, I
still like reading no matterwhere I am.
Love time with family, lovewriting.
Um, travel is one of my bigpassions.
So I've been fortunate enough tosee large and interesting parts

(08:01):
of the world.
Um so love working on projectsat home and you know, time at
home too.
Um certainly with the holidays,it was great to have time with
all my family here recently.
So yeah, it's kind of you know,it's kind of odd.
I think it makes it easy to domy job because I have always
been passionate about studyinghuman behavior and there's an

(08:23):
endless supply of things tolearn and study.
So a lot of times my workdoesn't feel like work because I
think it's so fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 (08:32):
And in your section of study, being in this field,
how have you found it'sbenefited you most in your own
personal life having thisknowledge, right?
This wealth of knowledge thatpeople don't just have access to
without looking for theresources.

SPEAKER_00 (08:49):
Yes.
Um, certainly that's and thenmaybe that's one of the things
that brings me such joy to studyin this arena because not only
can I use it at work, but I cango use it at home.
And I had three kids and I'vebeen married for a bajillion
years now.
And it's like to see that we cantake these very principles I
study and use my clients, and Ican come home and and talk about

(09:09):
them with my family and use themthere.
And and now to see my daughterhas recently gotten married and
see her take those same greatskills into her new family and
learning how to communicate andtalk about feelings in a in a
way that doesn't becomeargumentative, but actually
helps them problem solvetogether and work as a team.
So certainly huge in our familyto to watching my kids be able

(09:32):
to tell me how they feel asthey're growing up instead of
just acting it out with behaviorissues, you know.
So always applicable at home.

SPEAKER_01 (09:41):
That's amazing.
And what is the secret foranyone who looking to have a
long-term exclusive committedrelationship to having that work
in all areas?

unknown (09:53):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (09:54):
Oh, if it well, if there were one secret I'd put in
five minutes, I wouldn't have ajob.
So you literally just said take30 years of your life work and
condense it down to a littlesound bite.
So probably if I was going togive you a short version, I find
pretty much every relationship,almost every couple, every you
know, family that I'm workingwith, I have to teach them some

(10:15):
basic communication skillsbefore we can really start
working on the issues in thesystem to fix them.
So if I could probably giveevery couple just a gift, which
I guess I already have, ofknowing that there's three basic
communication skills, how totake a timeout, how to do an I
feel statement, and how tolisten well.
And I found I almost have toteach them like in every session

(10:36):
over the years.
And so I just started a littlebit ago putting them on YouTube
for free.
They're just out there for free.
So I guess if I were to say if Icould gift the world something,
it would be those three basicskills.
And I guess I kind of did byputting it on YouTube for free.
Because um, I found in sessionit was easier to say, hey, we
need to know how to do an IPLstatement so we can use them in

(10:56):
session.
And so I recorded it so I couldmake that academic piece happen
at home and tell my clients, gohome, listen to this, come back,
we're gonna use this skill.
Save us all time in session anduse our use our time when we're
together most efficiently.
So that is out there also.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (11:13):
And where can our listeners go to learn more about
Hidden Lakes Counseling?

SPEAKER_00 (11:17):
Yeah, we have we're on the internet at uh Hidden
Lakes Counseling.
The website's hiddenlakescounseling.com.
We're on Facebook, Hidden LakesCounseling.
Um, probably the best places tolook there.

SPEAKER_01 (11:28):
Yeah.
Well, well, Dr.
Lisa, I really appreciate youbeing on the show today.
We wish you and your businessthe best moving forward.
Sure.

SPEAKER_00 (11:36):
Great to meet everybody.
Thank you, Sophia.

SPEAKER_02 (11:39):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to GNP Frisco dot com.
That's GMP Frisco dot com orcall four six nine two two one
nine three four four four fourfour five.