About Austa
Austa Murray is an LCSW practicing in Illinois who supports people managing stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, relationship and intimacy concerns, grief, parenting and caregiver strain, ADHD, bipolar symptoms, and a range of other challenges such as abandonment, adoption and foster care issues, attachment concerns, and codependency.
Background and approach
With 22 years of clinical experience, she draws on training in attachment and trauma-informed perspectives while emphasizing practical skill-building and insight to address both immediate problems and longer-standing patterns. Her therapeutic stance is compassionate, nonjudgmental, and educational, offering clients a steady presence while moving at a pace that feels comfortable.
She blends client-centered principles with cognitive and behavioral techniques as well as dialectical skills when useful, and incorporates elements of the Gottman Method for relational work. Sessions focus on building connection, developing coping strategies, and creating individualized plans that reflect each client’s needs and goals.
She works with the belief that understanding developmental and attachment histories helps inform healing and practical change. In practice she provides individual and relational support using a strengths-based, trauma- and developmentally-informed framework, combining listening, psychoeducation, and skill development to help clients navigate life transitions, emotional pain, and interpersonal difficulties.
How attachment and skills-based therapies translate online
Attachment-Based Therapy emphasizes understanding how early relationships shape present-day patterns and focuses on creating safer, more supportive ways of connecting; this approach can help when trust, intimacy, or repeated relational patterns are central concerns. Client-Centered Therapy centers the person's experience, offering empathic listening and a nonjudgmental stance to help people explore feelings and make choices that fit their values. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) teaches practical strategies to identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, which can reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will work with each client to clarify goals, try methods that fit their preferences, and adapt techniques over time so the plan remains useful and relevant to what the client wants to achieve.
Online therapy with this practice is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, providing flexibility to fit scheduling needs and comfort levels. These formats make it possible to practice skills between sessions, review tools together, and maintain continuity of care when in-person meetings are not feasible, while allowing clients to engage in a way that best supports their day-to-day life.
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does Austa commonly address?
What is her general therapeutic style and approach?
How much clinical experience does she bring?
Where is she licensed and practicing?
Which languages are available for sessions and can she see international clients?
In what formats are sessions offered?
How is cost structured for sessions?
What are the steps to begin working together?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trichotillomania
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 22 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English