Tara Hartley, LCSW

Illinois · 9 years in practice

Tara Hartley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Illinois who centers her practice on helping people find meaning and direction when life feels overwhelming.

License and registration

LCSW, Illinois: 149.021785 · expires November 2027
NPI: 1639718612 · national provider identifier
Years in practice: 9
Languages: English

Details are as listed on the therapist's public professional profile. You can check the license with the issuing state board, and the NPI with the national registry.

About Tara

Tara Hartley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Illinois who centers her practice on helping people find meaning and direction when life feels overwhelming. She uses a straightforward, empathic style and focuses on practical change as clients navigate stress, anxiety, relationship struggles, addiction, grief, and major life transitions.

She brings nine years of experience in behavioral health, including past work in substance use counseling and trauma-focused cohorts. That mix informs how she responds to people who have faced abuse, physical trauma, or complicated family situations.

Background and approach

Her background includes work with depression, bipolar challenges, and intimacy and parenting concerns. Tara blends several approaches to match each person's needs. She draws on existential ideas about values and meaning, client-centered listening to build trust, and cognitive behavioral techniques to spot unhelpful thinking patterns.

Dialectical skills and mindfulness practices are added when emotion regulation or distress tolerance are priorities. In sessions she aims for a warm, interactive exchange. Conversations are tailored to real-life goals such as improving communication, managing cravings, calming anxiety, or coping with loss.

Tara avoids stigmatizing labels and focuses on what people want to change. She works in English and practices from Illinois. People come to her for short-term problem solving or longer work on deeper issues, and she helps map out a plan that fits each person's circumstances and pace.

Focus areas and approaches

Everything Tara lists on their public professional profile, in their own terms.

Stress, Anxiety
Relationship issues
Trauma and abuse
Depression
Coping with life changes
Addictions
LGBT
Family conflicts
Grief
Intimacy-related issues
Parenting issues
Anger management
Self esteem
Bipolar disorder
Coaching
Compassion fatigue
Aging and geriatric issues
Attachment issues
Blended family issues
Cancer
Caregiver issues and stress
Commitment issues
Communication problems
Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
Dissociation
Divorce and separation
Domestic violence
Drug and alcohol addiction
Emptiness
Family problems
Fatherhood issues
Forgiveness
Guilt and shame
Hospice and end-of-life counseling
Isolation / loneliness
Jealousy
Life purpose
Mood disorders
Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
Panic disorder and panic attacks
Paranoia
Personality disorders
Postpartum depression
Post-traumatic stress
Pregnancy and childbirth
Self-love
Sexual assault and abuse
Sexual dysfunction
Sexuality
Social anxiety and phobia
Women's issues
Young adult issues

Approaches Tara names

Naming an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist lists and does not check training records.

Online support

How existential and practical approaches work online

Existential Therapy focuses on questions of meaning, values, and choice. It helps people facing life transitions, emptiness, or big decisions by clarifying what matters and what actions align with those values.

Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes listening and understanding. The therapist follows the person's lead, offering empathy and reflection to build trust and help people discover their own solutions.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions. It uses concrete skills to change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors, which can ease anxiety, depression, and addiction-related urges.

Finding the best approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t helped before. Together they choose or blend methods and adjust as progress unfolds.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy flexible. Video is useful for in-depth conversation and visual cues, phone works well when bandwidth is limited, chat and messaging fit quick check-ins or ongoing support, and text can be used for brief coaching between sessions. These options help people fit sessions into work, caregiving, or travel schedules while keeping continuity of care.

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Questions people ask

What kinds of concerns does Tara address?

She works with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, addictions, relationship and intimacy issues, grief, parenting and many related concerns.

What is her therapeutic style like?

Her style is warm and interactive. She listens closely and combines practical exercises with reflective conversation.

What experience does she bring?

She has nine years of experience including time as a substance abuse counselor and work in trauma-focused cohorts.

Where is she licensed and based?

She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with an Illinois LCSW and practices from Illinois.

In what languages can sessions be held?

Sessions are offered in English.

Can people from other countries work with her?

She does not accept international clients at this time.

What session formats does she offer?

She offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and needs.

How are fees and starting therapy handled?

Costs vary with location and therapist availability and use a subscription that can be canceled at any time; to begin, select the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule based on availability.

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