About Marilyn
Marilyn Traynor is a licensed clinical social worker with 40 years of experience in Illinois. She focuses on helping people handle depression, anxiety, grief, and major life changes. Her work is aimed at adults who want practical ways to manage stress and regain a sense of direction.
She emphasizes listening first and tailoring the work to each person's situation. Sessions often center on identifying what matters most to the client and building concrete skills to improve day-to-day functioning.
Background and approach
Marilyn uses straightforward techniques that people can practice between meetings. Her background includes long-term work with caregivers and older adults, so she is familiar with aging-related concerns and chronic health challenges. She also supports people coping with relationship strain, workplace stress, addiction, and trauma-related reactions.
This experience informs how she helps clients set realistic goals. Therapy with Marilyn blends emotional exploration with practical tools. She draws on approaches that teach emotion regulation, flexible thinking, and values-driven action.
The pace is adjusted to each person’s needs, with room for both deeper reflection and hands-on skill building. Overall, she aims to help people feel more capable of handling life’s pressures. Clients leave sessions with clear steps they can try at home and a plan for moving forward.
Approaches that guide online work and practical tools
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice unhelpful thoughts and choose actions that match their values. It is useful for anxiety, depression, and life transitions when someone wants clearer direction. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on spotting and changing thinking patterns that lead to distress and on building new habits. CBT is often used for anxiety, mood concerns, and coping with stress.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Marilyn will collaborate with each person to select methods that match their goals, preferences, and the issues they bring. Sessions may blend ACT, CBT, and client-centered listening to fit what helps that person most.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet when in-person visits are hard to arrange. Video calls let people use visual cues and a fuller interaction, while phone sessions can work well when bandwidth is limited or a quieter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging suit shorter touchpoints, quick skill practice, or times when writing feels easier than speaking. These options make it simpler to keep continuity of care around work, caregiving, and travel.
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 40 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
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