About Lawrence
Lawrence "Larry" Westenberg is a licensed clinical social worker with four decades of experience in counseling. He draws on long clinical experience to help people who feel overwhelmed, stuck, or unsure how to move forward. Larry focuses on practical steps and the client's own strengths rather than long diagnostic lists.
He began his career in inpatient psychiatric settings, working on a back ward and helping people with severe mental health challenges find usable resources.
Background and approach
That early work shaped a hands-on style that favors real-world problem solving over theory-heavy approaches. Larry helps with a wide range of concerns including stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, depression, addictions, bipolar conditions, and ADHD. He also supports people facing relationship strains, grief, self-esteem struggles, career questions, life transitions, and questions about intimacy.
In sessions he uses a mix of client-centered methods, cognitive behavioral ideas, existential reflection, hypnotherapy, and mindfulness practices. He aims to identify small, practical changes clients can try between meetings and to build on what already works for each person.
Larry writes about belief change and Ericksonian hypnosis and has a long history of working in inpatient, outpatient, partial hospitalization, and crisis intervention settings. He has worked with LGBTQ+ individuals for many years and often helps people navigate difficult family dynamics and alternative lifestyles without judgment. People who prefer direct conversation and goal-focused work often find his style a good fit.
He encourages clients to name a direction, try concrete steps, and reassess what helps as they go along.
How his approaches translate to online sessions
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and responding to what the client brings. The therapist follows the client's lead, reflects what is said, and helps people recognize their own resources and choices. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions and uses simple experiments and practice tasks to change unhelpful patterns. Existential Therapy helps people talk about meaning, responsibility, and choices when life feels uncertain.Finding the right approach is part of the work. He will collaborate with clients to decide which methods fit their goals and comfort level. That may mean trying a CBT technique for a few weeks, then shifting to mindfulness practices or client-centered conversation depending on what helps most.
Online therapy can make regular sessions easier to attend. Video lets you see facial cues and use structured exercises together. Phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is limited or when a quieter, less visual check-in is preferred. Live chat and text-based messaging support brief check-ins, homework prompts, and ongoing coaching between longer sessions. These options help people fit therapy into work, caregiving, or other busy schedules.
Questions people ask
What kinds of problems does he address?
What is his therapeutic style like?
How much experience does he bring?
What are his credentials and where is he based?
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Can people outside the U.S. work with him?
What session formats does he offer online?
How are costs and starting steps handled?
What this therapist works with
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 42 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.