About Laura
Laura Marcum is a licensed clinical social worker in Illinois with more than 15 years of experience. She focuses on helping people manage stress and anxiety, build self-esteem and confidence, and address motivation. She approaches each person with respect, sensitivity, and compassion.
She believes the first step toward a more fulfilling life takes courage, and she offers steady, practical support through that process. Sessions are tailored to the needs of the individual.
Background and approach
Conversations and strategies are shaped to fit what a person is facing right now. In the room Laura listens for what matters most to the client. She helps people break down challenges into small, manageable steps.
Together they set goals and work on clear strategies to reach them. Her practice also addresses issues such as grief, trauma and abuse, addictions, relationship and intimacy concerns, and career stress. She works with people coping with life changes, compassion fatigue, ADHD, parenting strain, anger, eating issues, and depression.
Laura adapts the pace of therapy to each client. She combines practical suggestions with steady emotional support. The aim is to help people feel more capable, make constructive changes, and move forward with clearer direction.
Evidence-based approaches and flexible online care
Laura uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on practical skills and emotional understanding. One common approach is skills-based work that teaches tools for managing anxiety and stress, such as breathing exercises, task breakdown, and coping plans useful during high-stress moments. Another frequent focus is self-esteem and motivation work, which looks at everyday habits, self-talk, and stepwise goal setting to build confidence and sustain progress.Choosing the right method is part of the work together. The therapist collaborates with each person to identify which techniques best match their needs, goals, and preferences, and adjusts the plan over time as progress and challenges emerge.
Online therapy is offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to make care more accessible. Video is useful for real-time conversations that feel most like face-to-face sessions. Phone sessions are helpful when bandwidth is limited or when a camera is not convenient. Live chat and text messaging can work well for brief check-ins, reflections between sessions, or when someone prefers writing to speaking. These options aim to provide flexibility so therapy can fit into busy lives.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Career difficulties
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- LGBT
- Parenting issues
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
- Experience
- 15 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
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