About Rita
Rita Porter is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) practicing in Illinois with 32 years of experience. She focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, mood struggles, addictive behaviors, and major life changes. Her style is steady and practical, aimed at guiding clients toward clearer choices and better day-to-day functioning.
Clients can expect straightforward conversation and active problem solving. She listens for what matters most and helps people set small, doable goals.
Background and approach
Sessions often include skills to handle strong emotions, rethink difficult patterns, and build routines that reduce overwhelm. Rita uses a mix of approaches based on each person's situation. She draws on cognitive behavioral strategies to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors.
She also uses acceptance and commitment ideas to help people clarify values and take meaningful action. Mindfulness practices and emotionally focused techniques are part of her work for managing stress and improving relationships. These methods help people notice what’s happening inside and respond differently in tense moments.
The aim is steady progress rather than quick fixes. Over decades of practice she has supported individuals through grief, trauma and abuse, parenting challenges, career stress, and addiction concerns. Rita pays attention to family history, communication patterns, and life stage issues so plans fit each person’s daily life.
Her approach is collaborative and paced to the client’s goals.
Therapeutic approaches that translate online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice what matters to them and take small steps toward those values even when feelings are difficult. It supports people dealing with anxiety, depression, addiction patterns, and life transitions by shifting focus from eliminating feelings to choosing meaningful action. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) breaks problems into thoughts, feelings and behaviors and teaches concrete skills to change unhelpful patterns. It can help with anxiety, low mood, ADHD-related habits, and coping with stress.Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with each person about their goals and preferences and recommend techniques that fit. This is a collaborative process and methods can be adjusted over time based on what helps most.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to give flexibility. Video lets people read facial cues and practice skills in real time. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text messaging can work well for brief check-ins, homework, or when someone needs support between sessions. These options help people fit therapy into busy days and different life circumstances.
Questions people ask
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What this counselor works with
Most often
Also listed
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Parenting issues
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 32 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English