Denise McNicholas

Denise McNicholas is an Illinois Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) with five years of clinical experience. She helps people facing relationship struggles, low self-esteem, motivation and confidence issues, and career uncertainty. She also brings experience in executive and professional coaching and works with concerns like chronic pain, illness, disability, forgiveness, life purpose, self-love, traumatic brain injury, and women's issues.

Denise frames therapy as a collaborative process. She treats clients as the expert of their own story and builds on existing strengths. Sessions focus on practical steps, clearer priorities, and everyday strategies people can use between meetings. The tone is direct and goal-oriented rather than decorative.

Denise uses a mix of approaches to match what each person needs. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps spot and change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy supports noticing difficult thoughts while moving toward valued actions. Motivational Interviewing is used to sharpen commitment to change and set concrete next steps.

In sessions she emphasizes practical tools for work and life decisions. People might practice small experiments, create decision maps, and set short-term goals they can act on. Coaching-style conversations are available for those focused on career or leadership concerns.

Her style suits adults who feel stuck after a change or who are unsure what to do next. She helps people clarify priorities and take manageable steps forward without promising specific outcomes.

How therapeutic approaches guide online sessions

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, and then take steps toward what matters most. It can be useful for people wrestling with life purpose, chronic illness adjustments, or low motivation. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going and testing new ways of thinking and acting. It is practical for work-related stress, self-esteem, and relationship patterns.

Choosing an approach is a collaborative part of the work. Denise will discuss different methods and help you decide what fits your goals, preferences, and the problems you want to address. That decision can change over time as priorities shift or new challenges arise.

The biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm current options before booking. In general, online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and remove travel time. Therapists and licensed professionals often adjust tools and homework to suit remote sessions, so practical exercises, brief experiments, and coaching conversations can be carried out without changing the essential work.