Marianne Costales-Roman , LCSW

Marianne Costales-Roman is a licensed clinical social worker with 27 years of experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and LGBT-related concerns. She offers practical help for parenting challenges, relationship and intimacy issues, grief, trauma, and changes like career shifts or separation. Marianne works in English and Spanish and practices from Illinois. Her style is warm and straightforward. She listens first, then helps people set clear goals. Sessions focus on skills that can be used between meetings - breathing and grounding tools, communication practice, and steps to change unhelpful thinking. Marianne draws on several therapy approaches to match each person's needs. She uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people notice values and take actions that matter. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is used to identify and change thinking patterns that fuel anxiety or depression. Client-centered techniques keep the conversation focused on the person’s experience and priorities. She also brings elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Emotionally-Focused Therapy when emotion regulation or attachment patterns are central. These tools aim to increase emotional awareness and improve relational connection. Marianne tailors methods to the issue at hand rather than following a single script. People often come for help with parenting stress, body image and eating concerns, ADHD, caregiver burnout, or family-of-origin issues. Marianne works with abandonment, adoption and foster care topics, codependency, and communication problems. Her goal is to help each person find clearer choices and more sustainable coping. To begin, she invites people to describe the problem, set small goals, and plan next steps together. Sessions are practical and paced to fit a person’s life and commitments.

Therapeutic approaches and online care

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people notice painful thoughts and feelings without getting stuck, then choose actions that match their values. It can be useful for anxiety, depression, stress, and major life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on spotting patterns of thinking and behavior that keep problems going and practicing concrete skills to shift them, which can help with worry, low mood, and sleep or eating issues. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes listening and empathy, letting the person lead the pace and topics so their own priorities shape the work.

Choosing the right method is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk about goals, try different techniques, and adjust the plan based on what helps most. People often mix approaches over time depending on the issue and progress.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to increase flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversations and skill practice, phone sessions can work well when bandwidth is limited, live chat supports brief check-ins or between-session problem-solving, and text messaging is useful for short updates or ongoing support. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, family, or caregiving schedules and to continue care when life changes or travel arise.