About Colleen
Colleen Llacsa is an Illinois-licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with 12 years of experience helping people work through depression, addiction, trauma, eating concerns, and major life transitions.
Background and approach
She draws on extended practice with mood and anxiety disorders as well as challenges that arise from chronic illness and health-related stress. Colleen addresses a broad set of issues including panic attacks, social anxiety, workplace stress, and recovery after domestic violence or divorce.
Her work often supports people navigating postpartum depression, young adult concerns, and the emotional impacts of cancer, chronic pain, or disability. Colleen favors a compassionate, collaborative style that emphasizes practical coping strategies and steady growth.
She aims to create a space where clients can examine patterns, build resilience, and identify realistic steps toward recovery and improved functioning. Clients seeking help with communication difficulties, grief after separation, or anxiety related to natural or human-caused disasters will find experience relevant to those needs.
Colleen practices in Illinois and accepts English-speaking clients, including those located internationally through online formats.
Evidence-Based Techniques and Online Care
Colleen uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on symptom reduction and skill-building. One common approach is cognitive-based work that helps identify and shift unhelpful thinking patterns to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms and improve daily functioning. Another frequently used strategy centers on trauma-informed methods that support processing and managing the effects of abuse, violence, or other distressing life events while building safety and coping skills.
Choosing the right approach is part of the collaborative process. The therapist will work with each client to consider their needs, goals, and preferences, and then tailor techniques or combine methods that best fit the situation. Goals and methods are revisited over time to ensure they remain relevant and helpful.
Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, offering flexibility for people with busy schedules or limited local options. These formats can make it easier to maintain consistent care, attend sessions from different locations, and select the mode of communication that feels most comfortable for individual needs and daily life.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Addictions
- Trauma and abuse
- Eating disorders
Also works with
- Cancer
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Postpartum depression
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
- Experience
- 12 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English