Lori Cheek Gilroy, LCSW

Lori Cheek Gilroy is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 26 years of experience. She welcomes people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship strain, parenting challenges, or big life changes. Lori writes and talks in a calm, straightforward way so people feel heard and understood right away.

Lori approaches counseling with the person at the center. She listens first, then helps set clear, achievable goals. Sessions focus on practical steps people can try between meetings to ease symptoms and build more stability in day-to-day life.

Her background includes work in child welfare, family counseling, a birthing center, crisis intervention, and outpatient mental health. That variety shaped a flexible approach that moves between short-term problem solving and deeper work when needed.

Lori draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy along with client-centered, solution-focused, motivational, and trauma-focused methods. She blends those tools to match each person’s situation rather than using a single fixed plan.

She also supports people dealing with adoption or foster care issues, caregiver stress, chronic illness or pain, family-of-origin concerns, and challenges veterans often face. Lori aims to help people rebuild routines, heal from painful events, and regain a clearer sense of purpose.

Lori practices in Illinois and conducts sessions in English. Her style is respectful and compassionate, and she works with people to find practical changes that fit their lives.

How Lori’s approaches translate to online therapy

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and understanding each person’s experience. Lori uses this approach to build rapport, clarify what matters most, and make sure goals reflect the person's values and daily life. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts, feelings, and actions interact and teaches practical skills to change unhelpful patterns. It can help with anxiety, depression, and managing strong emotions. Trauma-Focused Therapy concentrates on safely processing painful memories and reducing their impact on current functioning, often using pacing and grounding techniques.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Lori works with each person to decide which methods to try first and adjusts the plan as progress is made. She blends strategies based on the client’s goals, preferences, and the issues they bring to sessions.

Online sessions offer real flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and skill teaching, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is low, live chat provides a focused short check-in, and text-based messaging lets people reflect and respond on their own time. These options can help therapy fit into work, caregiving, or medical schedules while maintaining continuity of care.