Elizabeth Szlek, Director and founder of The Door Counseling Center, brings a wealth of background and experience to her duties as a Christian counselor. Her first career, begun at age ten, was that of professional musician. She sang and performed as a classical flutist, and attended Syracuse University on full scholarship, where she majored in Flute Performance and graduated cum laude. Following this degree, she was awarded a full fellowship to Yale University, where she received the Master of Music degree, and went on to study contemporary music in Warsaw, Poland as a United States Government Fulbright Fellow. She received a diploma from the Academia Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and performed with various orchestras and ensembles in Europe, America and Canada. After her appointment to the faculty of the University of Western Ontario, she returned to New York City, where she lived and worked for ten years as a member of the Italian folk music and theatre group, I Giullari di Piazza. 

During her years in New York, Ms. Szlek rediscovered the importance of Christianity as an organizing principle in her life, and she returned to her home in Utica, New York to pursue theological studies. She also studied for another Master's degree, in counseling, and in 1996 she received the Master of Arts degree in Counseling from Liberty University, and shortly thereafter opened The Door Counseling Center.

Elizabeth Szlek does all of the counseling at The Door Counseling Center and gets support from a regional Christian Psychiatrist when required and agreed to by the client.  She is a member of the following professional counseling societies:

The American Association of Christian Counselors

The American Counseling Association

The National Board for Certified Counselors

With her experience in living in other cultures, speaking other languages, living in both large cities and small towns, her experiences with various churches and denominations, Miss Szlek can offer her clients a varied and broad background, enabling her to "connect" with many kinds of people. She does not specialize in any particular age group, denomination,  or counseling area, but prefers to meet each client and attempt to help them strengthen their relationship with God. This is the basis for her counseling philosophy, and she has found that cognitive-behavioral therapy blends quite well with the Christian perspective. She is at work on a book with the working title "Virtues Therapy", which explains her  method of helping Christians acquire the virtue(s) they need to bring them closer to God. The essence of her counseling is to see each person as made in the image of Christ, and help them struggle to attain Christ-likeness.