About Susan
Susan Mellema is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) practicing in Illinois with three decades of clinical experience. She has worked extensively with people facing addictions, family conflicts, trauma and abuse, grief and loss, and parenting challenges, bringing a long history of supporting clients through difficult life transitions.
Background and approach
Her LCSW credential reflects advanced training in assessment and therapeutic intervention. Susan approaches each person as the expert on their own life, building on individual strengths to promote meaningful change.
She emphasizes collaborative work that empowers clients to set and reach goals, and she draws on several evidence-based strategies to tailor care to a person's needs. The therapist aims to make beginning therapy a courageous but practical step toward greater well-being, offering guidance and support while honoring a client's values and resilience.
Clients who choose Susan can expect a steady, respectful presence and a focus on practical tools alongside deeper processing of loss and trauma. Her background across a variety of family and addiction-related concerns informs a flexible, strengths-oriented practice designed to help people move toward healthier patterns and more fulfilling relationships.
Evidence-Based Approaches for Online Support
Client-centered therapy emphasizes listening, empathy, and partnering with the client to explore goals and values. This approach helps people feel heard and supports growth by focusing on individual strengths and priorities. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) provides practical strategies to identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, which can be useful for anxiety, depression, addiction-related patterns, and many daily-life challenges. Motivational Interviewing is a collaborative, goal-oriented method that helps people resolve ambivalence and strengthen motivation for change, often used in work around substance use and behavioral shifts.
Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. The therapist works collaboratively with each person to select or combine methods that fit their needs, goals, and preferences, adjusting as progress is made. This helps ensure treatment feels relevant and practical rather than one-size-fits-all.
Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, allowing flexibility around work schedules, caregiving responsibilities, and mobility. These formats make it easier to maintain consistent sessions and use therapeutic strategies between meetings, supporting steady progress through accessible and adaptable care.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns does Susan address in therapy?
What is Susan's therapeutic style and approach?
How much clinical experience does this therapist have?
Where is Susan licensed to practice and what are her credentials?
Does Susan offer services in languages other than English or accept international clients?
What session formats are available for working together?
How are fees and payment handled for sessions?
How does someone begin working with Susan?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Addictions
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Adoption and foster care
- Blended family issues
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Intellectual disability
- Multicultural concerns
- Parenting issues
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Self-love
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 30 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English