Joan French, LCPC

Joan French is a licensed clinical professional counselor with 17 years of experience who helps people feeling isolated, anxious, or overwhelmed. She focuses on making clients feel heard and building connection as a first step toward feeling better. Joan works with adults who are facing depression, anxiety, relationship strain, grief, and big life changes. She also welcomes people who identify as LGBTQIA2S+ or who are exploring gender and identity questions.

Joan aims to create a calm, nonjudgmental space where people can say things that feel hard to say. She uses a trauma-informed stance and brings patience and a bit of lightness when it helps. Humor sometimes appears in sessions as a way to relieve tension and open a new perspective.

Her approach is integrative and practical. Joan draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Emotionally-Focused Therapy, and client-centered methods to match techniques to a person's needs. She also uses art-based activities and communication skill building when helpful.

Joan trained with a Master of Arts in Community Counseling and also completed an Art Therapy certificate. She practices in Illinois and works with adults ages 18 and older. Joan emphasizes listening first, then helping people try small changes that can make daily life feel more manageable.

People describe her style as resourceful and patient, with a focus on clear tools for coping, improved communication, and repairing connection with others. She supports work on attachment, codependency, sleep problems, career stress, and processing grief or trauma.

Using CBT and ACT online to tackle everyday struggles

Joan often uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice how thoughts and behaviors interact. CBT focuses on practical steps - changing unhelpful thinking patterns and trying different behaviors - which is useful for anxiety, depression, and sleep issues.

She also draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which helps people clarify values and accept difficult feelings while taking action that matters. ACT can be helpful for coping with grief, shame, and life transitions.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Joan collaborates with each person to pick methods that match their goals and preferences. She adjusts techniques over time based on what is working and what feels doable for the client.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to make therapy fit into busy lives. Video lets people use visual cues and more interactive exercises, phone works well when bandwidth is limited, and messaging or live chat can suit short check-ins or ongoing support between sessions. These options allow for flexibility with scheduling and different ways of expressing thoughts and feelings.