About Marla
Marla Ferguson is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people manage anxiety, stress, and the pain of loss. She has two decades of experience and focuses on practical steps that feel doable. Marla aims to make the first visit less overwhelming and will listen without judgment.
Clients can expect a calm, straightforward approach. Sessions focus on naming what feels hard, finding small coping tools, and building clearer routines. Marla encourages pacing work to match each person's comfort and energy.
Background and approach
Her background includes extensive work with people facing relationship strains, trauma and abuse, and end-of-life concerns. That experience shapes how she supports grieving and caregiving challenges. She often draws on strategies that address emotional safety and daily functioning.
Marla centers multicultural awareness in her practice and pays attention to how culture shapes reactions to stress and loss. She uses language and examples that match each person’s life and values. The goal is to make skills feel relevant and usable.
When starting, Marla helps set simple goals and reviews what progress will look like. Over time she adjusts plans to keep them practical and manageable. Her focus is on steady, realistic change rather than quick fixes.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
Marla commonly uses evidence-based techniques that focus on practical skills and emotional processing. One approach emphasizes building concrete coping skills for anxiety and stress - teaching breathing, grounding, and step-by-step behavioral changes to reduce overwhelm. This helps when worry or panic interrupts daily tasks.Another approach centers on grief and trauma processing in a paced way - creating space to name painful memories, work through emotions, and restore routines. This method supports people coping with loss and those facing the long demands of hospice or end-of-life situations.
Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. Marla collaborates with each person to match techniques to their needs, goals, and preferences. She starts with small goals and adjusts methods as progress and comfort change.
Online therapy offers several practical benefits for this style of work. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and shared visual cues for skills practice. Phone sessions require less bandwidth and can fit a break at work. Live chat and text-based messaging are useful for brief check-ins, practicing techniques between sessions, and people who prefer writing. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent while fitting real life.
Questions people ask
What kinds of concerns does Marla address?
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
How much experience does she bring?
What are her credentials and where is she located?
Which languages are sessions offered in?
What session formats are available?
How does payment and cost work?
How do I begin a session with her?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
Also listed
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.