Tamela Polanin, LCPC
Illinois · 20 years in practice
Tamela Polanin is a licensed clinical professional counselor with 20 years of experience.
License and registration
- LCPC, Illinois
- 180.012372 · expires March 2027
- NPI
- 1982255592 · national provider identifier
- Years in practice
- 20
- Languages
- English
Details are as listed on the therapist's public professional profile. You can check the license with the issuing state board, and the NPI with the national registry.
About Tamela
Tamela Polanin is a licensed clinical professional counselor with 20 years of experience. She offers a calm, practical approach and a steady presence for people facing stress, anxiety, trauma, or big life shifts. Tamela speaks plainly and aims to make the first steps feel manageable for someone who is worried or unsure.
She draws on Emotionally-Focused Therapy to help people notice and share the emotions that matter most in close relationships.
Background and approach
Tamela also uses client-centered methods that keep the person’s own goals in focus. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques are available for people who want concrete tools to change patterns of thinking and behavior. Tamela’s work grew from long experience in mental health and from her own encounters with trauma.
She describes trauma recovery as a journey and treats each story as unique. Sessions tend to be straightforward and goal-oriented, with attention to safety and pacing. Concerns she commonly addresses include depression, grief, addictions, parenting strains, intimacy issues, anger, self-esteem, and ADHD.
She also helps with attachment questions, blended-family challenges, and navigating divorce or separation. The aim is to build skills and understanding that fit each person’s life. Tamela is licensed in Illinois as an LCPC.
She offers sessions in English and is open to working with people outside the U.S. through online formats. Practical arrangements for scheduling and subscription billing are handled up front so people know what to expect.
Focus areas and approaches
Everything Tamela lists on their public professional profile, in their own terms.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Depression
- Addictions
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Parenting issues
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
- Bipolar disorder
- Coping with life changes
- Coaching
- Compassion fatigue
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Dependent personality
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Approaches Tamela names
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Narrative Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
Naming an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist lists and does not check training records.
Online support
Working with emotion, needs, and practical skills online
Emotionally-Focused Therapy helps people identify and express the feelings that matter most in close relationships. It can be useful for people dealing with attachment wounds, intimacy concerns, or patterns that keep repeating in relationships. Client-Centered Therapy focuses on the person’s goals and pace; the therapist listens closely and follows the client’s lead to build understanding and confidence. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy provides clear tools to spot unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors, which many people find helpful for anxiety, depression, and coping with stress.Choosing the right approach is a shared process. Tamela will talk with each person about their goals, past experiences, and what feels tolerable in therapy. She adapts the mix of emotion-focused work and practical skill-building to match what the person needs and prefers, and decisions are made together as work progresses.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy fit into a busy life. Video is helpful for full conversations that benefit from visual cues. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and messaging let people share thoughts between sessions or check in without scheduling a full call. These options increase flexibility and make it simpler to keep steady work on goals.
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Questions people ask
What kinds of concerns does she address?
Tamela works with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, depression, addictions, grief, intimacy issues, parenting strains, anger, self-esteem, bipolar, and life transitions. She also addresses focused topics like abandonment, attachment issues, codependency, and body image.
How would you describe her therapy style?
Her style blends Emotionally-Focused Therapy, client-centered work, and CBT or DBT skills when useful. Sessions are conversational and practical, aiming to help people understand feelings and try new ways of coping.
What is her professional background?
She has worked in mental health for 20 years and has focused much of that time on trauma-informed care. Personal experience with trauma informs her interest in trauma recovery and related supports.
Where is she licensed and where does she practice?
She holds an Illinois LCPC credential and is based in Illinois. She offers therapy to people living in other regions through online session formats.
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English.
What session formats are available?
She provides video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and needs.
How does billing and cost work?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time. Exact pricing is determined during the matching and scheduling process.
How do I begin working with her?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, completing a short matching questionnaire, and then scheduling according to therapist availability.
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