Patti Hampsten , LCPC

Patti Hampsten is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) based in Illinois. She focuses on helping people handle stress, anxiety, addictions, relationship strain, eating concerns, depression, and other life challenges. Patti brings a calm, inviting style to sessions so people can speak openly and begin making practical changes.

Patti begins most work with a client-centered stance. That means she listens first, validates feelings, and avoids judgement. She often uses motivational interviewing early on to help people find what matters to them and build motivation for change.

As therapy progresses, Patti draws on cognitive behavioral techniques and skills from dialectical behavior therapy to address thinking patterns and teach coping tools. She also uses mindfulness practices and solution-focused strategies to help clients notice progress and try small experiments outside sessions.

Her background includes work in community mental health and experience as an addictions counselor. Patti has three years of direct clinical experience as an LCPC and also provides clinical supervision in problem-solving court settings, including drug court, mental health court, and veterans court.

Patti supports people dealing with grief, trauma and abuse, caregiver stress, body image and identity concerns, panic attacks, and midlife changes. She aims to help people leave sessions with at least one concrete coping tool and a clearer sense of the next step.

People who prefer a straightforward, compassionate approach may find her style a good fit for making steady, practical progress.

Therapeutic approaches in online care

Client-centered therapy focuses on listening without judgement and helping people feel understood so they can decide what changes matter most. This approach is useful for building trust and for people who feel stuck or overwhelmed.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts and behaviors interact and teaches practical ways to change unhelpful patterns. It is commonly used for anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and many everyday struggles.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Patti will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match their goals, needs, and preferences, and she adapts techniques as progress is made.

Online therapy formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video lets people share facial cues and have a full session, phone can be helpful when bandwidth is limited or for a quick check-in, and chat or messaging can support short updates or ongoing coaching between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and to keep practicing skills on a regular basis.