About Tamela
Tamela Polanin greets readers plainly and directly. She offers steady, practical support for people who feel overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, grief, relationship problems, trauma, or life transitions. Tamela names experience and a down-to-earth style so parents and individuals can picture an ordinary conversation that leads to clearer next steps.
Tamela brings 20 years in mental health to sessions and holds an IL LCPC. She describes herself as a guide who listens first and helps people take the lead in their own healing.
Background and approach
Her approach centers on what each person needs rather than a one-size-fits-all plan. In practice she uses client-centered methods alongside Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and EMDR when appropriate. Those tools help with symptoms like intense anxiety, depressive episodes, trauma reactions, and problems with mood or attention.
She also draws on Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Emotionally-Focused Therapy techniques for managing strong emotions and improving important relationships. Tamela is comfortable addressing a wide range of concerns including parenting stress, adoption and foster care issues, attachment and intimacy challenges, addictions, anger, and career strain. She also works with people coping with bipolar disorder, ADHD, compassion fatigue, and reproductive or bereavement loss.
Sessions are offered in English and she sees people in Illinois as well as international clients by online formats. Tamela aims to help people feel less stuck and more able to make practical choices that match their values and goals.
How her approaches work online
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and following the person's lead. The therapist offers empathy and reflection so clients can name their goals and find their own solutions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact; it uses practical exercises to change unhelpful thinking and build new habits. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a trauma-focused method that helps reduce the intensity of distressing memories through structured processing work.Finding the right approach is part of the collaboration. Tamela will talk with each person about their goals and try methods that fit their needs and comfort level. Together they decide what to try, adjust pacing, and add skills or exercises as progress unfolds.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is useful for deeper conversations and EMDR-style processing when visual connection helps. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Chat and messaging let people share updates between sessions and fit therapy into busy days. These options make it simpler to get consistent support without long travel or scheduling strain.
Questions people ask
What concerns does Tamela commonly help with?
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
What is her professional background?
What credentials and region does she represent?
Which languages are supported and can international clients connect?
What session formats are available?
How are session costs handled?
How do I begin working with her?
What this counselor works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English