Therapist profile
Tamela Polanin, LCPC
Illinois LCPC - Family and parenting focus
Continue with TamelaAbout
- Client-centered methods
- CBT and DBT skills
- Trauma-focused care
About Tamela
Tamela Polanin is an Illinois Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) with 20 years of experience. She helps adults manage stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and parenting strains. She also supports people coping with grief, addictions, relationship difficulties, self-esteem and life changes.
Tamela draws on client-centered methods to keep conversations focused on the person's goals. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy tools to address unhelpful thoughts and build practical coping skills. She also integrates Emotionally-Focused work and EMDR for trauma-related concerns.
Sessions are conversational and goal-oriented. Tamela listens to what matters to the client and suggests strategies that can be practiced between meetings. She often works on communication skills, boundary-setting, and managing intense emotions in everyday situations.
Her background includes two decades in mental health work and personal experience with trauma and parenting. She mentions experience with reproductive loss and adoption and foster care topics, and she can discuss blended family dynamics, fatherhood issues, and attachment concerns.
Tamela lives in Illinois, is a mother, and brings a straightforward, practical style to sessions. She sees the person first and uses evidence-informed approaches to help with specific problems such as ADHD-related struggles, anger, and coping with separation or divorce.
People who want a therapist who uses structured skills as well as trauma-focused methods may find her approach fits. She accepts international clients and works in English.
How sessions work
How therapeutic approaches translate to online work
Tamela uses Client-Centered Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in her practice. Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and helping the person set goals; online sessions using this approach are conversational and collaborative and help with relationship, parenting, and self-esteem concerns. EMDR is a trauma-focused method that uses structured sets of processing to reduce distress from traumatic memories; when used remotely it is adapted into step-by-step sessions that include preparation, processing, and stabilization.She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques to identify unhelpful thoughts and build practical skills. CBT exercises can be assigned between sessions and reviewed remotely, which helps with anxiety, mood changes, ADHD-related challenges, and coping with life transitions. Choosing the right approach is part of the therapy process and will be decided together based on goals and preferences.
The practical benefit of online sessions is that they can fit more easily into a busy home life. Confirm which session formats are currently available before booking, since the biography does not list specific formats. Online visits can make it simpler to have shorter check-ins, schedule around school or work, reduce travel time, and keep continuity of care when circumstances change.
Areas of focus
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
20+ years
Listed in
Illinois
Languages
English
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of problems does she address?
She works with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and parenting-related concerns among other topics such as grief, addictions, intimacy issues, and career strain.
What is her therapeutic style?
She uses a client-centered approach combined with CBT and DBT techniques, and includes trauma-focused methods like EMDR when appropriate.
How much experience does she have?
She has 20 years of experience working in mental health settings and describes long-term involvement with trauma work and parenting issues.
What are her credentials and location?
She is an Illinois LCPC and practices from Illinois.
Does she work in other languages or with international clients?
Sessions are offered in English and she accepts international clients.
What session formats does she offer?
The original biography does not specify session formats; confirm current online and in-person options before booking.
How much do sessions cost?
Cost varies with location and sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I get started?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. A license can be checked with the state board.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If anyone is in danger, use the crisis numbers.