About Katie
Katie Tapert Mercado is an Illinois-licensed clinical social worker with LCSW credential and nearly three decades of practice helping people navigate major emotional challenges.
Background and approach
She focuses on stress and anxiety, grief and loss, depression, compassion fatigue, and adjusting to life changes, offering steady professional support drawn from 29 years of experience. Her approach emphasizes creating an open, nonjudgmental space where clients can explore difficult thoughts and feelings.
Katie aims to accompany people through transitions such as illness, caregiving burdens, end-of-life concerns, immigration-related stress, isolation, and questions about life purpose. She also brings attention to aging and geriatric needs, cancer-related issues, domestic violence, and hospice counseling when these topics arise in care.
Clients work with Katie to identify next steps toward a more satisfying life, with the therapist providing guidance and validation while clients set the pace and goals. She accepts international clients and conducts sessions in English from Illinois, adapting support to individual circumstances and availability.
Evidence-Based Techniques and Accessible Online Care
Two evidence-based therapeutic approaches Katie uses include methods that help clients process grief and loss through guided exploration of emotions and meaning, and interventions aimed at reducing anxiety by teaching practical coping strategies and stress management skills. These approaches focus on building insight, emotional regulation, and tangible tools to manage difficult symptoms and transitions.Finding the right approach is part of the collaborative process. Katie will work together with each person to identify which techniques match their needs, goals, and preferences, adapting interventions over time as progress and circumstances evolve.
Online therapy with Katie is offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, providing flexibility for clients balancing busy schedules or geographic limits. These formats make it easier to maintain continuity of care and fit sessions into daily life, while allowing therapists and clients to focus on meaningful work regardless of location.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Experience
- 29 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English