About Barbara
Barbara Benn is a licensed clinician in Illinois with 15 years of experience. She focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, anger, and low self-esteem. She aims to create a calm space where people can share their thoughts and feelings without judgment.
She uses motivational interviewing to help people find their own reasons for change and to build motivation for next steps. She also draws on person-centered therapy, which emphasizes listening closely and responding to each person as an individual.
Background and approach
Practical tools such as grounding and relaxation techniques are used to manage intense feelings in the moment. Her approach is collaborative. Sessions typically involve talking through current problems, identifying small goals, and practicing skills that can be used between meetings.
She helps people take gradual steps toward greater confidence and improved mood. Barbara adapts sessions to fit each person's needs and pace. She has experience helping people reduce social anxiety and increase motivation for daily tasks and long-term goals.
The work is geared toward real-life changes rather than abstract concepts. People who want to begin are guided through a clear process to get started. The emphasis is on practical support, steady progress, and building skills that carry beyond the therapy session.
How therapeutic methods translate to online care
Barbara uses motivational interviewing to help people clarify what they want to change and to build real motivation for small steps forward. This approach focuses on open questions and reflective listening to strengthen a person’s own reasons for change and is useful for anxiety, low motivation, and behavior change.She also uses person-centered therapy, which centers on listening closely and responding to each person’s experience. That method creates a respectful, nonjudgmental space and helps people feel heard while they work through trauma, low self-esteem, or depression.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative task. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels helpful. Together they decide which techniques to try and adjust them over time based on what helps most.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to give flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation, phone sessions work well when video would be difficult, live chat can be used for shorter check-ins, and messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, school, or family life while still working on practical skills and steady progress.
Questions people ask
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What this counselor works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Anger management
Also listed
- Experience
- 15 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English