About Susan
Susan "Susie" Maguire is a licensed clinician who has spent 12 years helping people who feel overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, and low self-worth. She holds an IL LCPC, and she works with individuals facing depression, relationship struggles, and questions about identity and sexuality. Her manner is direct but warm, and she aims to make sessions feel practical and understandable.
In sessions she focuses on what is happening now and what can change.
Background and approach
She listens for patterns that keep people stuck, like shame, isolation, or repeated family conflicts. Then she helps clients try small, manageable steps to shift those patterns. Conversations are collaborative and goal-oriented, with space to process emotions.
She has particular experience supporting LGBT people and those experiencing gender dysphoria. She also helps people dealing with caregiver stress, postpartum mood changes, seasonal mood shifts, and midlife transitions. Concerns such as social anxiety, self-harm thoughts, or relationship pain are addressed with practical strategies and steady support.
Sessions may include short skills practice, planning for tough conversations, or revisiting family-of-origin dynamics that still affect daily life. The work often focuses on building self-compassion and clearer boundaries so clients can feel safer in relationships and more confident in daily choices. Susan aims to help people leave sessions with one or two next steps they can try between meetings.
She frames therapy as a partnership where progress is measured in small, real-world changes rather than quick fixes.
Approaches that guide online sessions
Evidence-based techniques are used in a clear, practical way. One common approach focuses on learning skills to manage anxiety and mood swings. That work involves practicing breathing and coping strategies, testing out new behaviors, and breaking problems into small steps to reduce overwhelm. Another approach emphasizes understanding and changing patterns from family of origin or past relationships. This helps people see why they react a certain way and then try different responses in real life.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t worked before. Together they decide which methods to try and adjust the plan as the work unfolds so it fits the person’s needs.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text messaging. Video is useful for deeper conversations and visual cues, while phone sessions can fit a shorter break during a workday or when less bandwidth is available. Live chat and text are handy for quick check-ins, skill reminders, or when someone prefers writing. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and maintain regular contact with a licensed professional.
Questions people ask
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What this counselor works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Depression
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- Isolation / loneliness
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Postpartum depression
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
- Experience
- 12 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English