Marilyn Traynor , LCSW

Marilyn Traynor is a licensed clinical social worker with 40 years of practice in Illinois. She focuses on helping adults manage worries, mood struggles, grief, and big life changes. Her work is grounded in steady support and practical steps people can use between sessions.

She pays close attention to issues that often come up in midlife and later years. That includes caregiver stress, aging concerns, chronic health problems, and the emotions that attend major transitions. She aims to help people keep functioning and find meaning even when circumstances shift.

Marilyn uses straightforward talk therapy to address stress, anxiety, depression, and relationship concerns. She also helps people dealing with trauma, addiction, ADHD, and recurring patterns like codependency or abandonment fears. Sessions focus on clear goals and manageable tools clients can try at home.

Her style is compassionate and patient. She listens first, then helps people sort out what matters most to them. Sessions move at a person’s pace and emphasize skills to handle immediate problems as well as deeper emotional work.

People who come for support can expect a mix of practical strategies and reflective conversation. The goal is to strengthen coping, improve relationships, and regain a sense of control. Marilyn aims to make therapy useful and relevant to everyday life.

Therapeutic approaches for online care

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people notice unhelpful thoughts and choose actions that match their values. It can be useful for anxiety, depression, and coping with life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT, focuses on changing unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns through practical exercises and skill building. It often helps with mood, worry, and stress. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationships shape current patterns and can help people improve intimacy and trust in relationships.

Finding the right approach is part of therapy. Marilyn will work together with each person to decide which methods fit their goals and preferences. That collaborative process can blend practical skills and deeper reflection based on what the client wants to address.

Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to match different needs. Video works well for in-depth conversation and visual cues, phone can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat offers a focused check-in, and messaging lets people keep a steady thread between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, and other daily demands.