About Amanda
Amanda Halawa-Mahdi is a licensed clinical social worker practicing in Illinois with 23 years of professional experience. She focuses on helping people navigate stress, anxiety, depression, family conflicts, self-esteem challenges, and workplace concerns while also offering coaching to build confidence and clarify values.
Background and approach
Amanda brings a strengths-based perspective, viewing clients as experts in their own lives and partnering with them to pursue more meaningful, satisfying outcomes. Her background includes extensive work with trauma, motivation, behavior change, and specialized coaching training through the Co-Active Training Institute.
Amanda integrates knowledge of diversity, equity, and inclusion into her practice and works to identify and reduce bias wherever it affects her clients' wellbeing. She uses a blend of therapeutic approaches tailored to each person’s goals, and she emphasizes practical strategies alongside deeper exploration to support lasting change.
Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care
Amanda frequently draws on client-centered therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy to guide remote work. Client-centered therapy emphasizes empathic listening and collaboration, helping clients feel heard while exploring personal values and goals. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on identifying thought patterns and developing practical skills to manage anxiety, mood, and workplace stress.She also uses motivational interviewing when clients seek change but feel ambivalent; this approach helps clarify personal motivations and supports step-by-step commitment. Together, these methods offer a balance of insight, skill-building, and goal-oriented planning that can address concerns like self-esteem, family conflict, and life direction. Amanda approaches treatment collaboratively and will work with each person to determine which combination of methods best fits their needs, goals, and preferences rather than applying a single technique upfront.
Online sessions are offered via video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging, which can make it easier to schedule appointments around work and daily life. These options support continuity of care and allow clients to choose the format that feels most practical and comfortable while working on stress, mood, communication, and related goals with a licensed professional.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Self esteem
Also works with
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 23 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English