About Maria
Maria "Patti" Lorenzo is a therapist with 12 years of clinical experience and an IL LCPC credential. She focuses on helping people shift harsh self-talk into kinder, more useful ways of thinking. Patti emphasizes a practical, down-to-earth approach that aims to produce small, steady changes people can use day to day.
Many clients come for help with anxiety, depression, bipolar challenges, ADHD, grief, or stress from life transitions. She also addresses intimacy-related concerns, career strain, compassion fatigue, and issues tied to adoption, abandonment, aging, or chronic illness.
Background and approach
Patti pays attention to how patterns of thinking and behavior keep people stuck. In sessions she mixes straightforward reflection with skills practice. Clients can expect warmth, clear feedback, and gentle accountability.
The goal is to build awareness, name unhelpful patterns, and try new ways of responding when it matters most. Patti often supports people navigating identity shifts, menopause-related emotional changes, burnout, and the pressure of holding everything together for others. She frames therapy as a collaborative process and invites clients to set practical goals for the work.
Her methods draw from acceptance and commitment strategies, attachment ideas, client-centered listening, cognitive techniques, and behavioral skills. Sessions aim to strengthen emotional resilience and to create changes that carry into daily life.
Therapeutic approaches and online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice painful thoughts without getting ruled by them and name personal values to guide action. It is useful for anxiety, depression, and feeling stuck. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on spotting unhelpful thinking and testing new, more balanced thoughts to reduce distress and change behavior. It often helps with anxiety, mood concerns, and problem-solving. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at patterns in close relationships and how early bonds influence current reactions; it can help with intimacy-related issues and improving emotional connections.Finding the right approach is part of the work. Patti will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match their needs, goals, and preferences. She checks in about what is or isn’t working and adjusts the plan together over time.
Online sessions offer flexibility for busy schedules and varied needs. Video calls let people read facial expressions and have a fuller conversation, while phone sessions can fit a break at work or use less bandwidth. Live chat and text-based messaging are helpful for quick check-ins, brief coaching moments, or ongoing support between sessions. These options make therapy more accessible and easier to fit into daily life.
Questions people ask
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What this counselor works with
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Stress, Anxiety
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Visually impaired
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 12 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English