About Tara
Tara Hartley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) practicing in Illinois who blends evidence-based and humanistic approaches to support clients through stress, anxiety, trauma, addiction, relationship concerns, and life transitions.
Background and approach
With nine years of combined experience as a therapist and substance abuse counselor, she draws on cognitive-behavioral tools alongside dialectical and mindfulness strategies to help people manage mood symptoms, coping skills, communication struggles, and issues related to grief or intimacy.
Her style emphasizes warmth, respect, and collaboration rather than labels, and she adapts treatment plans to each person’s needs. Tara has additional experience addressing caregiving stress, attachment and blended family dynamics, geriatric concerns, cancer-related challenges, dissociation, and the effects of domestic violence or natural disasters.
She also works with clients facing parenting and fatherhood questions, commitment and communication problems, and substance-related concerns. Tara aims to empower clients to take steps toward meaningful change through tailored dialogue, practical skills training, and compassionate support.
Her LCSW credential reflects clinical training in Illinois, and she offers sessions in English to people located within the state.
Therapeutic approaches and how they translate to online care
Client-centered therapy focuses on creating a respectful, empathetic space where the client’s goals guide the process; it emphasizes active listening and collaborative planning to help people gain clarity and agency in their lives. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) teaches practical skills to identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, which can be useful for addressing anxiety, depression, and coping with life changes. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) adds emphasis on emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness, offering concrete tools for managing intense emotions and improving relationships.Finding the right approach is part of treatment, and the therapist works collaboratively with each person to determine which methods best match their needs, goals, and preferences. That collaborative process may blend techniques from different approaches so that sessions remain responsive and personalized.
Online sessions make these methods accessible through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These formats provide flexibility for scheduling, allow therapeutic work to continue from home or work, and support different communication styles - from real-time talking to messaging for brief check-ins and skills practice.
Frequently asked questions
What problems does Tara commonly address?
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
What is her clinical background and experience?
Where is she licensed to practice?
Can people who speak other languages work with her?
What formats are available for sessions?
How are fees and payment handled?
What steps are needed to begin working with her?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Addictions
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 9 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English