About Carla
Carla Dumas is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in Illinois who helps people manage stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and parenting challenges. She also supports those coping with relationship strain, trauma and abuse, sleep problems, anger, bipolar mood concerns, impulsivity, and ADHD. Carla approaches each person as the expert on their life and looks for strengths to build on.
Carla works in a straightforward, respectful style. She listens first and then partners with clients to set clear, practical goals.
Background and approach
Sessions focus on what matters most now and on simple steps people can try between meetings. She favors approaches that are collaborative and goal-oriented. Her methods include client-centered therapy, which centers the conversation on the person’s experience and needs.
She uses cognitive behavioral techniques to identify unhelpful thoughts and form new patterns. Emotionally-focused work helps people name emotions and repair important connections. Carla also draws on solution-focused and trauma-focused approaches when they fit the situation.
Solution-focused work narrows in on small, achievable changes. Trauma-focused techniques are applied carefully to help people process painful memories at a pace they can tolerate. Across sessions she aims for clarity, practical tools, and steady progress.
Her experience spans many settings over 31 years, and she adapts methods to each person's goals and cultural background. People can expect a calm, steady presence and concrete strategies to try between appointments.
How therapeutic approaches shape online sessions
Client-centered therapy puts the person’s experience at the center of sessions and helps the therapist follow what matters most to the client; it is useful for emotional distress, relationship concerns, and parenting struggles. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviors, which can help with anxiety, depression, sleep problems, impulsivity, and ADHD-related challenges. Emotionally-focused therapy (EFT) helps people identify and name emotions and improve how they respond to close relationships, which can be useful for relationship strain and grief.Finding the right approach is collaborative. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn't worked before. Together they decide whether to emphasize client-centered listening, CBT skill work, EFT emotional processing, or a mix of approaches that fits the client’s needs.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, and these options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life. Video works well for face-to-face conversation and demonstrations; phone sessions can be a better fit when bandwidth or hands-free time matters. Live chat or text-based messaging can provide short check-ins, quick problem-solving, or ongoing support between longer sessions. These options give flexibility so people can choose what best supports their routine and goals.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Grief
Also listed
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Domestic violence
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Impulsivity
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Sleeping disorders
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 31 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
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