Alisa Cates , LCPC

Alisa Cates, LCPC, offers a warm, person-centered approach that puts the client's experience first. She listens carefully and helps people name what feels overwhelming. Her style is straightforward and supportive, aimed at helping people make practical changes in daily life.

Alisa has worked in Illinois since 2013 and brings 13 years of experience from community mental health, inpatient hospitalization, intensive outpatient programming, corrections, and private practice. That range means she has helped people with depression, anxiety, mood disorders, grief, and major life transitions. She also addresses parenting stress, anger, self-esteem, addictions, ADHD, and compassion fatigue.

In sessions she blends Client-Centered Therapy with Cognitive Behavioral techniques and tools from Emotionally-Focused and Narrative approaches as needed. She uses Motivational Interviewing to support readiness for change and to help people set achievable goals. The focus is on practical steps clients can try between meetings.

People often come for help with relationship and family strain, career decisions, or coping with midlife and aging concerns. She also works with postpartum mood concerns, pregnancy and childbirth stress, and seasonal mood shifts. Alisa aims to build rapport quickly so clients feel heard and can move forward.

Her work is collaborative and paced to individual needs. She helps people organize thoughts, test new behaviors, and reflect on life stories to find clearer direction. The goal is steady progress rather than quick fixes.

Therapeutic approaches and online sessions that fit your life

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and understanding the person's perspective, helping people feel accepted and able to share what matters most. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) teaches practical skills to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, which is often useful for anxiety, depression, and stress. Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) helps people identify and work with strong emotions in relationships and personal patterns to build more secure connections.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and what has helped in the past, then adapt methods so they match each client's needs. This is a collaborative process where adjustments are made as progress is tracked.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility. Video is helpful for face-to-face interaction and visual cues, phone calls work when bandwidth is limited, and messaging or live chat can suit brief check-ins or ongoing support between longer appointments. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy days, handle scheduling challenges, and keep momentum over weeks of work.