About Ramona
Ramona Zarate focuses on helping people navigate stress, anxiety, addiction, grief, self-esteem concerns, depression, and relationship struggles. She works from a strengths-based viewpoint, aiming to collaborate with clients to create individualized treatment plans that reflect each person’s needs and goals.
Background and approach
Her practice emphasizes whole-person care, integrating mental health treatment with attention to life circumstances and recovery challenges. With an 11-year background in community mental health and hospital settings, Ramona has supported individuals facing co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.
Her experience includes case management, coordinating with family service agencies, and working alongside physicians to promote continuity of care. Ramona earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Community Counseling from Marquette University, where she specialized in substance abuse and co-occurring conditions.
She holds the LCPC credential in Illinois, and she conducts services in English for clients located in Illinois.
Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care
Ramona integrates client-centered therapy, mindfulness practices, and motivational interviewing into online work to address stress, anxiety, addictions, and related concerns. Client-centered therapy focuses on listening empathetically and creating a respectful space where clients set the pace and priorities of treatment. Mindfulness therapy helps people build awareness of thoughts and bodily sensations to reduce reactivity and support emotional regulation. Motivational interviewing is collaborative and goal-oriented, helping individuals explore ambivalence and strengthen commitment to change.Finding the most helpful approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will work with each client to identify goals, try different strategies, and refine the plan based on what proves most effective and comfortable. This shared decision-making encourages ownership of progress and adapts methods to individual preferences and needs.
Online therapy offers flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, making it easier to fit care into busy schedules and to access support from home. These formats can allow ongoing connection between sessions, varied ways to communicate depending on comfort level, and practical convenience for people managing recovery, health, and daily responsibilities.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 11 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English