Laura Salazar, LPC, LCPC

Laura Salazar is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) with nine years of clinical experience. She emphasizes practical strategies parents can use right away. Laura focuses on clear goals and tools that support day-to-day life. She works collaboratively to build treatment plans based on what each person wants to achieve. Sessions focus on concrete steps rather than long lectures. Laura uses approaches that help people change thinking patterns, manage strong emotions, and process difficult events. Common concerns she addresses include anxiety, depression, stress, grief, trauma and abuse, addiction, and self-esteem struggles. She also helps with relationship and intimacy-related issues, parenting challenges, family conflict, and worries tied to LGBT identity. Laura aims to match methods to each concern and goal. Her approach blends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with client-centered techniques and skills from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). She also integrates trauma-focused ideas and existential questions when they fit the client’s needs. The emphasis is on usable skills and clearer thinking. Laura offers sessions in English and practices in Illinois. She frames therapy as a collaborative process where the person’s goals guide each step. People who prefer straightforward, skills-based work may find her style a good fit.

How CBT and skills-based approaches work online

Laura commonly draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviors. CBT focuses on practical exercises and brief experiments people can try between sessions to reduce anxiety, lift mood, and manage stress.

She also uses Client-Centered Therapy which emphasizes listening, empathy, and aligning sessions with each person’s goals. That approach helps people feel understood while they decide on what changes matter most. When intense emotions or high distress are present, she brings in Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills to teach emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work together. The therapist will help identify which methods match a person’s goals, pacing changes to what feels manageable. Clients collaborate on goals and regularly check progress to adjust methods as needed.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions allow face-to-face work and skills practice. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can fit into breaks or busy days. Live chat and text-based messaging offer brief check-ins, ongoing coaching, and written tools to review between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into everyday life while focusing on concrete skills and goal progress.