About Marilyn
Marilyn Traynor is a licensed clinical social worker with 40 years of practice in Illinois. She focuses on helping people manage anxiety, stress, depression, grief, and major life changes. Her work centers on clear, practical support that people can use between sessions.
She sees adults who are wrestling with caregiving strain, aging concerns, chronic health challenges, or shifts in career and family roles. Sessions are designed to help people talk through painful feelings and find steady ways to cope.
Background and approach
Marilyn combines practical skills with space to process emotions. Her background spans long-term clinical work with people facing trauma, relationship problems, addiction, and mood challenges. She uses conversational, client-centered techniques to keep sessions grounded and relevant.
People learn tools to manage strong emotions and to handle day-to-day stressors more effectively. Marilyn draws from several evidence-informed approaches, including acceptance and commitment strategies, cognitive behavior work, attachment-based ideas, and emotion regulation skills. She matches methods to a person’s situation and goals rather than using one set routine.
This makes the work flexible and focused on results people notice in their lives. In sessions she aims for straightforward language and step-by-step plans. Her goal is to help clients rebuild confidence, manage symptoms, and move forward after loss or transition.
The emphasis is on practical change and real relief that fits each person’s life.
Approaches for online anxiety and life-change work
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on helping people notice thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them. It encourages identifying values and taking small, committed steps that align with what matters most. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings, and actions interact and teaches practical techniques to shift unhelpful thinking and reduce anxious or depressive symptoms.Finding the right approach is part of the process. Marilyn will work collaboratively to figure out which methods match each person’s needs, goals, and preferences. She adapts strategies as progress is made so sessions stay useful and relevant.
Online therapy with video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging offers flexibility for busy schedules and different comfort levels. Video supports face-to-face interaction and visual cues. Phone sessions can fit during a break or when bandwidth is limited. Live chat or text messaging can be used for brief check-ins, skill practice, or ongoing support between appointments. These options make it easier to keep continuity of care while fitting therapy into day-to-day life.
Questions people ask
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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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