About Malissa
Malissa Dieterle is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) with 26 years of experience practicing in Illinois. She helps people manage stress and anxiety and supports those coping with addictions and major life changes. Her approach is steady and respectful, and she aims to create a supportive space for people who feel stuck or overwhelmed.
She focuses on real-life concerns like relationship troubles, low self-esteem, and problems with motivation. She also works with issues connected to abandonment, codependency, impulsivity, and isolation.
Background and approach
Malissa helps people facing divorce or separation, as well as those trying to stop smoking or vaping. Her style centers on tailoring conversations and plans to each person's needs. Sessions are practical and grounded.
She uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques to address mood shifts, seasonal affective disorder, and substance use challenges. Malissa aims to be direct while remaining compassionate. She listens for patterns in behavior and thought, then helps clients try different ways of coping.
The work tends to focus on small, manageable changes rather than big, rapid overhauls. Clients who value a calm, experienced counselor may find her approach helpful. She encourages people to take the first step and recognizes that starting therapy takes courage.
The process begins with understanding immediate concerns and then building a plan that fits day-to-day life.
Approaches That Translate Well to Online Care
Many of the evidence-based techniques Malissa uses are straightforward to work on in remote sessions. Behavioral methods focus on changing daily habits and coping strategies by identifying triggers and practicing new responses; these are useful for anxiety, smoking cessation, and mood shifts. Cognitive-oriented work looks at unhelpful thoughts and tests alternatives through simple exercises and homework; this helps with worry, low self-esteem, and decision-making around relationships.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, try methods that fit their needs, and adjust the plan as progress is seen. The emphasis is on what works in the client’s life, not on fitting them to a single method.
Online therapy offers flexibility that can make regular work more possible. Video calls let the therapist observe nonverbal cues and run role-plays or guided exercises. Phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is limited or when a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging support shorter, more frequent touchpoints between sessions for reminders, coping ideas, or quick coaching. These options help people fit therapy into busy schedules and maintain steady progress.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Forgiveness
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Workplace issues
- Experience
- 26 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
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