Licensed to practice in Illinois and accepts 11 insurances. Specializes in Anxiety, Depression, Grief and 10 more.
Lauren Dircks
(she/her)
About me
I’m Lauren Dircks, LCSW, a licensed therapist in Illinois with immediate openings. Are you struggling with anxiety, depression, grief, or life transitions and longing for a safe space to turn? My passion is creating a supportive, empowering space where you feel truly seen as you heal and grow. Along with talk therapy, I offer EMDR for trauma recovery. I welcome teens, adults, seniors, and caregivers from all walks of life, offering a safe, inclusive space to be your authentic self. I support clients with anxiety, depression, grief, LGBTQ+ needs, perinatal care, dementia and caregiver stress, relationship conflict, anger, stress, self-esteem, and life transitions.
Get to know me
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
During our first session we will focus on getting to know each other, and giving you space to share what brings you to therapy. We will review expectations, set goals for treatment, review policies, and I will happily answer any questions you may have. The first session is really a time for you as the client to get comfortable with making the first step on your improvement journey, and being able to feel confident in where things are going next.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
My approach is one that is very flexible as I meet you where you are to be able to best support you. I balance gentle support and sitting quiet to give you space to process and talk about challenges with also challenging thoughts and perspectives to help you see things in new and more positive ways. I work to ensure that when I am challenging thoughts or perspectives that it is done so in a gentle and supportive way, but also in a clear and straight forward approach. I am a very honest person, and clinician, and my approach is based on honesty while supporting, not just saying what I think one wants to hear.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
I enjoy working with those ages 13 and older who are experiencing challenges with anxiety, depression, grief, life transitions, aging challenges, relationships, identify concerns, and many other challenges. I like working with those who are open-minded and willing to try new things, and who are willing to talk in sessions about their challenges to allow for greater support. I also enjoy working with those who are a little more hesitant, as it can be scary to talk about the hardships we are going through. I like working with clients who come to therapy with goals in mind, but also love getting to help clients find goals that motivate them.
Specialties
Top specialties
Anxiety
Depression
Grief
Other specialties
Anger Management
Coping Skills
Family Conflict
First Responders/Healthcare Workers
Life Transitions
Parenting
Peer Relationships
Postpartum
Self Esteem
Women's Issues
Identifies as
White
Woman
Serves ages
Adults (18 to 64)
Elders (65 and above)
Teenagers (13 to 17)
Licensed in
Illinois
Accepts
Amerihealth Administrators
Arlo
Cash - $130 per session
Centivo
Cigna
Cigna - HealthEZ
EAP:Cigna
EAP:Evernorth
Evernorth
GTEB
Tufts Health/Cigna
Location
Virtual
My treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I use CBT a lot in my practice through helping clients learn to identify and challenge negative thinking patterns and perspectives, and be able to restructure these into positive thought patterns and perspectives to help improve their mood and behaviors. Client's learn how to view situations and experiences differently to help them better process the events,
EMDR
I use EMDR to help client's work through past trauma and work towards healing when words feel to heavy to say. This allows clients to get support and treatment without the expectation of having to tell every detail of their past to someone else when they are not comfortable with doing so.