About Athena
Dr. Athena Porter is a licensed clinical professional counselor with 21 years of experience. She practices from Illinois and focuses on issues such as anxiety, stress, depression, bipolar mood concerns, and trauma.
She combines practical therapy with coaching to help people manage symptoms and work toward clearer goals. Dr. Porter favors approaches rooted in cognitive-behavioral ideas, mindfulness, and existential perspectives.
Sessions often include skill-building for coping, attention to thoughts and behaviors, and opportunities to reflect on values and meaning.
Background and approach
She also uses hypnotherapy when appropriate to support relaxation and focused change. Her career spans community work, clinical practice, and public education. She has delivered presentations at health fairs, supported awareness campaigns on topics such as suicide prevention and substance use, and shared mental health information through media channels.
That background informs a broad view of mental health and recovery. People who come to her can expect a blend of practical tools and conversation about life direction. Dr.
Porter offers straightforward techniques for managing panic, anger, and addictive patterns alongside coaching for career and parenting concerns. She helps people notice unhelpful thinking and practice new behaviors in day-to-day life. Her work also attends to cultural and social factors that affect wellbeing.
That includes addressing multicultural concerns, discrimination, and the stress caregivers face. Throughout, she aims to help people build balance in body, mind, and spirit.
Therapeutic approaches and how they work online
Dr. Porter uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness Therapy as core tools in her work. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on noticing and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors to reduce anxiety and panic attacks. Mindfulness Therapy builds attention to the present moment and can lower stress and reactivity through simple breathing and awareness practices.She also draws on Dialectical Behavior Therapy ideas when emotional regulation and crisis coping are priorities. DBT-style skills help people manage strong emotions, reduce impulsive reactions, and improve interpersonal effectiveness in everyday situations. Together these approaches give both skills and chances to reflect on what matters most in life.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will ask about current concerns, goals, and what has or hasn’t worked before. Then she and the client decide together which strategies to use and adjust them over time as needs change.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and guided skills practice. Phone sessions can be a good choice when bandwidth is limited or a simpler check-in is needed. Live chat and messaging are useful for brief check-ins, progress notes, or when real-time text fits a person’s schedule. These options aim to make care more flexible and easier to fit into everyday life.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Anger management
- Self esteem
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 21 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
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