Teresa Cortas

Teresa Cortas is an Illinois licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with 25 years of experience. She works with adults facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and questions about life purpose. Teresa also supports people dealing with parenting concerns, workplace issues, and the specific pressures LGBTQ+ clients and women may face.

Her approach is practical and conversational. Sessions look at what feels stuck and what small steps could change daily life. Teresa draws on client-centered methods along with cognitive behavioral techniques and motivational interviewing to help people try different ways of thinking and acting.

Teresa often helps people sort through guilt, shame, and feelings of emptiness that can come with big life changes. She also addresses family problems and relationship strain by focusing on what each person can do next. Conversations include skill-building for coping, clearer decision-making, and ways to manage overwhelming emotions.

Over her career she has worked with grief and compassion fatigue as well as midlife transitions and career questions. Teresa frames therapy as collaborative problem-solving rather than a lecture. She aims to make sessions accessible and focused on practical moves clients can use between meetings.

Sessions are conducted in English and are based in Illinois. Prospective clients are asked to confirm current session options before booking and to use the site process to complete the initial matching questionnaire and schedule a first meeting.

How Teresa’s approaches translate to online work

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and reflecting what the client says so they can notice their own choices. It helps with feeling stuck, questions about meaning, and deciding what matters next. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions, and offers simple exercises to test new ways of thinking and behaving. CBT suits anxiety, low mood, or work-related stress. Motivational Interviewing is a brief, goal-focused style that helps people find reasons to change and strengthen their commitment to taking steps forward.

Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the early work. Teresa collaborates with clients to choose methods that match their goals, preferences, and what they want to try. This is a shared process and can shift as needs change over time.

The biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm current online session options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce travel time so conversations can happen between other commitments. It can also make it simpler to use written exercises or screen sharing during a session when that supports the work.