Ryan Erskine, LAC
COUNSELING FOR TEENS, ADULTS + VETERANS IN TUCSON

Ryan Erskine, LAC

Helping you understand what’s keeping you stuck—and find a clearer way forward.

Ryan helps teens, adults, couples, and veterans navigate anxiety, depression, grief, relationship concerns, identity questions, and major life transitions.

He is calm, thoughtful, and deeply reflective. Ryan listens carefully, asks meaningful questions, and helps clients understand the experiences, beliefs, and patterns shaping how they feel and relate to others. He works especially well with clients who are unsure how to process what they are feeling or need time and trust before they can begin to open up. Faith can be part of therapy—if you want, and on your terms.

La Cholla Office Adults • Teens • Couples $100/session
A QUICK SENSE OF FIT

Does this sound like you?

You do not need to relate to everything. One familiar experience may be enough to keep exploring.

You feel stuck but cannot quite explain why

Something feels off, but understanding what is happening—or where to begin—has been difficult.

You need time before you can open up

You may be private, guarded, skeptical of therapy, or simply need trust before talking about difficult things.

You want to understand yourself more deeply

You want to see how past experiences, beliefs, and patterns are influencing how you feel and relate to others now.

You are trying to figure out what comes next

A relationship, career, military transition, loss, or other change has left you questioning your identity or direction.

You want support without staying on the surface

You appreciate compassion and respect, but also want thoughtful questions and honest reflection that can help you grow.

You want therapy to feel collaborative

You want someone who listens closely, thinks with you, and helps you develop both insight and practical ways forward.

What it feels like to work with Ryan

Calm enough to give you room.
Thoughtful enough to help you go deeper.

Ryan creates space to think and make sense of what you are experiencing without expecting you to have the right words immediately.

He listens carefully, notices patterns, and asks meaningful questions that help you understand what may be keeping you stuck.

Read more about Ryan’s style

Ryan believes trust is earned rather than expected. If you are private, guarded, skeptical of therapy, or simply unsure how to talk about what is happening inside, he will not rush you into vulnerability. He gives the relationship time to develop so you can begin opening up at a pace that feels manageable.

His approach is reflective and exploratory. Ryan is naturally curious and analytical, and he enjoys helping clients look beneath the immediate problem to understand how past experiences, beliefs, and recurring patterns may be shaping emotions, relationships, and choices today.

Therapy with Ryan is supportive, but it is not passive. Once he understands your experience, he may gently challenge a belief, point out a pattern, or help you consider something from a different perspective. The goal is not confrontation—it is greater self-awareness, practical change, and a clearer way forward.

Ryan Erskine, LAC
  • A calm, thoughtful presence
  • Careful listening and meaningful questions
  • Depth without pressure to open up quickly
  • Compassion paired with gentle challenge

Specialized areas of focus

Where Ryan brings particular depth

Identity, purpose + life transitions When the life you understood no longer feels clear—or no longer fits. Explore this specialty Close specialty

A career change, relationship shift, military transition, faith question, or unexpected season of life can leave you wondering who you are now and what comes next. Sometimes the old direction no longer works, but the new one has not yet become clear.

Ryan helps clients understand how past experiences, beliefs, and roles have shaped their sense of self. Therapy can create room to clarify what matters now, recognize strengths that may have been overlooked, and move toward a life that feels more intentional, meaningful, and aligned with your values.

Grief, loss + rebuilding When something important has changed and you are learning how to live with what comes after. Explore this specialty Close specialty

Grief can follow a death, divorce, estrangement, career change, military transition, or the loss of a future you expected. You may feel sadness, anger, guilt, numbness, confusion, or simply unsure how to move forward.

Ryan offers space to understand what has changed without rushing you through it. Therapy can help you process the loss, reconnect with what still matters, and gradually build a life that can hold both what happened and the possibility of meaning, connection, and hope ahead.

Veterans + military transitions When service, responsibility, transition, or military culture continues shaping life beyond the uniform. Explore this specialty Close specialty

Military service can shape identity, relationships, expectations, and the way you respond to stress. Transitioning between military and civilian life may bring questions about purpose, belonging, family roles, career direction, or how to relate to people who have not shared the same experiences.

As an 18-year U.S. military veteran, Ryan brings firsthand familiarity with military culture, high-pressure environments, leadership, responsibility, and transition. He helps service members and veterans make sense of what they are carrying while building greater clarity around relationships, identity, coping, and what comes next.

A deeper look at the work

Explore more of Ryan’s specialties

The reason you come to therapy may involve more than one part of your life. Explore the areas below for a fuller sense of the concerns Ryan works with and the ways therapy may help.

Anxiety + depression When worry, heaviness, or overthinking make it harder to feel like yourself.

Anxiety may show up as constant thinking, anticipating problems, irritability, tension, or difficulty slowing down. Depression may feel more like heaviness, withdrawal, low motivation, or losing interest in things that once mattered.

Ryan helps clients understand the connection between thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and the experiences that may be influencing them. Therapy can include practical coping strategies while also exploring the deeper patterns that contribute to feeling stuck.

The goal is not simply to manage symptoms, but to help you respond to life with greater understanding, confidence, and choice.

Couples + relationship concerns When the same conversations keep ending in distance, frustration, or misunderstanding.

Relationships can become strained when communication breaks down, conflict repeats, or one or both partners begin feeling unseen, disconnected, or unsure how to repair what has changed.

Ryan helps couples slow conversations down and better understand what each person is experiencing beneath the immediate conflict. His calm and thoughtful style creates space for both partners to speak honestly without turning therapy into a debate over who is right.

The work may include improving communication, recognizing recurring patterns, strengthening emotional understanding, and developing healthier ways to respond to one another.

Teen counseling When a teen needs room to think before they are ready to talk.

Ryan works with teens and older navigating anxiety, identity questions, self-esteem concerns, school stress, family conflict, trauma, or difficulty managing emotions.

His quiet and thoughtful style can be especially helpful for teens who need time before opening up or who feel uncomfortable being pushed to explain themselves. Ryan allows trust to develop rather than forcing conversation simply to fill the silence.

When clinically appropriate, parent consultation can support progress while preserving the privacy and trust teens need in their individual counseling relationship.

Parenting + family support When you want to understand what is happening instead of simply reacting to it.

Parenting can become especially difficult when a child or teen is struggling emotionally, communication has become tense, or old approaches no longer seem to work.

Ryan offers parent consultation and support to help parents slow down difficult interactions, understand what may be driving behavior, and consider more intentional ways of communicating, responding, and setting boundaries.

The goal is not perfect parenting. It is greater understanding, clearer communication, and a family environment that supports both connection and healthy limits.

Career direction + burnout When achievement no longer tells you what you actually want next.

You may be capable, responsible, and successful while still questioning whether your current work fits the life you want. Burnout can also make decisions feel harder by leaving you exhausted, disengaged, or unsure whether the problem is the job, the environment, or something deeper.

Ryan helps clients explore the relationship between work, identity, values, responsibility, and meaning. Therapy can create space to identify strengths, reconsider assumptions about success, and clarify what you want your next season to look like.

This can be particularly meaningful during military transition, career change, midlife reassessment, or periods when a role that once provided direction no longer feels sustainable.

Stress + emotional regulation When pressure builds faster than your ability to manage it.

Stress may show up as irritability, anger, shutting down, difficulty concentrating, feeling constantly on edge, or reacting more strongly than you want to situations around you.

Ryan helps clients identify the thoughts, triggers, experiences, and patterns influencing those reactions. Therapy may include practical skills for emotional regulation alongside deeper work to understand what the reactions are communicating or protecting.

Over time, clients can become better able to recognize what is happening internally, respond more intentionally, and navigate difficult situations with greater confidence and steadiness.

Faith can be part of the work—when you want it to be.

Ryan offers Christian counseling for clients who want faith included in therapy. He approaches that integration thoughtfully, without assuming what you believe or forcing spiritual language into the conversation.

How Ryan approaches Christian counseling

Ryan counsels from a Christian worldview and is comfortable integrating faith when you invite it. Depending on what is meaningful to you, this may include Scripture, prayer, biblical principles, forgiveness, identity in Christ, spiritual growth, or conversations about meaning and purpose.

He also welcomes clients who are questioning their faith, wrestling with doubt, or carrying hurt from a church or religious community. Ryan approaches these experiences with curiosity and humility, allowing room to explore what happened without rushing you toward a particular conclusion.

Faith does not replace sound clinical care. Whether Christianity is central to your therapy, included only occasionally, or not discussed at all, Ryan respects your preferences and provides the same thoughtful, compassionate, and nonjudgmental care.

Professional details

A closer look at Ryan’s practice

Review Ryan’s credentials, clinical methods, client fit, and practical session information.

Education + licensure Arizona Licensed Associate Counselor
Licensure Arizona Licensed Associate Counselor
LAC-24187
Graduate education Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Grand Canyon University, 2026
Undergraduate education Bachelor of Science in Psychology
Grand Canyon University, 2023
Additional education Associate of Applied Science in Human Services
Community College of the Air Force, 2017

As a Licensed Associate Counselor, Ryan practices under clinical supervision while working toward independent licensure.

Therapeutic approaches Insight, practical skills, reflection, and collaborative therapy

Ryan uses a person-centered and collaborative approach while drawing from evidence-based methods that help clients better understand thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and recurring patterns. The approach is tailored to the client rather than forcing every concern into the same model.

Person-Centered Therapy Cognitive Behavioral Therapy DBT-Informed Care Psychodynamic Therapy Motivational Interviewing Solution-Focused Therapy Psychoeducation Christian Counseling When Requested
Who Ryan works with Teens • Adults • Couples • Veterans + military

Common areas of work

  • Anxiety, depression, stress, and emotional regulation
  • Grief, loss, and significant life changes
  • Identity, purpose, and questions about what comes next
  • Couples, marriage, and relationship concerns
  • Teen concerns, self-esteem, school stress, and identity
  • Parenting and family support
  • Military, veteran, and first-responder concerns
  • Career direction, burnout, and transitions

Therapy may fit particularly well if

  • You want to understand yourself more deeply.
  • You need time and trust before you can really open up.
  • You struggle to put thoughts or emotions into words.
  • You appreciate a calm therapist who listens carefully.
  • You want compassion without avoiding difficult conversations.
  • You value both insight and practical ways to move forward.
  • You want therapy to feel collaborative rather than prescriptive.

Ryan works with teens, adults, and couples. He also has a particular interest in working with veterans, military personnel, first responders, and clients navigating identity, purpose, grief, or major life transitions.

Office + session details La Cholla office • In person + telehealth • $100 per session
Office location 7522 N. La Cholla Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85741

View map
Session format Ryan offers individual, teen, and couples counseling. Sessions are available in person at the La Cholla office, with telehealth available when clinically appropriate.
Session fee $100 per session
Teen counseling Ryan sees teens beginning at age 12. For minor clients, the first session is parent-only before Ryan begins individual sessions with the teen.
Telehealth Telehealth may be available for Arizona clients when clinically appropriate.
Current availability View Ryan’s current appointment availability through the online booking portal.

View availability
Ryan Erskine, LAC

Ryan, in a few words

Thoughtful Calm Curious Authentic Insightful
On a more personal note

Outside the counseling room, Ryan is a husband and father of two daughters. He spent 18 years serving in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard and enjoys spending time with his family, being involved in his church community, and getting outdoors whenever he can.

Ryan enjoys camping, hiking, off-roading, overlanding, fitness, and exploring new places. He is also someone who genuinely enjoys thinking deeply—especially about psychology, theology, philosophy, history, resilience, and the questions people ask about meaning, identity, and the human experience.

Ryan identifies as an INTJ and Enneagram 5w4. His natural curiosity, reflective nature, and love of learning are part of what he brings into the therapy room: a desire to understand people beyond the surface and help them make sense of their own story.

How therapy may unfold

A thoughtful process for understanding yourself and moving forward

01

Build trust

Begin at a pace that gives you time to feel understood, develop trust, and open up without pressure.

02

Understand what is underneath

Explore how experiences, beliefs, emotions, and recurring patterns may be shaping what is happening now.

03

Move with greater clarity

Turn insight into healthier choices, practical strategies, stronger relationships, and a clearer sense of direction.

Therapy is collaborative—Ryan works with you, not ahead of you.

When you’re ready

You do not need to have everything figured out before you begin.

You do not need a perfect explanation for what feels wrong or know exactly what you want therapy to change. If Ryan feels like a possible fit, you can begin with a conversation and take things from there. If you are still deciding, take the time you need to compare counselors.