About Marilyn
Marilyn Traynor is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 40 years of practice in Illinois. She focuses on helping adults manage stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and major life changes. Her work emphasizes steady support and practical steps you can use between sessions.
Marilyn offers counseling shaped for people facing midlife and later-life concerns. She helps with caregiver stress, aging-related challenges, chronic illness, and the emotional impact of big transitions. Sessions aim to make hard feelings easier to name and handle.
How Marilyn works
Her approach balances challenge and compassion. She draws on methods that teach new ways to respond to thoughts and feelings, strengthen close bonds, and build day-to-day coping skills. Conversations are direct and grounded in the client’s real life and goals.
Marilyn also works on relationship patterns, communication struggles, and issues around intimacy. She supports people dealing with addiction, anger, work stress, and career changes. The focus is on practical change rather than jargon-filled theory.
Clients can expect an individual plan that uses evidence-based techniques and relational work tailored to their situation. Marilyn prioritizes collaboration so each person’s values and preferences guide the pace and focus of therapy.
Marilyn lists 9 ways of working on the entry:
What Marilyn works with
The areas below are the ones Marilyn selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Register | LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 40 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Illinois |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How Marilyn’s Approaches Work Online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people clarify what matters to them and take small, meaningful steps toward those values. It is often used for anxiety, depression, and life transitions where motivation and direction matter.Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early and current relationships shape feelings and behavior. It can help people understand patterns in close relationships and build more satisfying connections.
Marilyn will work collaboratively to find the best approach for each person. She listens to needs, goals, and daily routines, then suggests methods to try. Adjustments are made as therapy progresses so the plan stays useful and relevant.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls let you use visual cues for deeper conversation, phone sessions can be a lighter option when bandwidth is limited, live chat suits shorter check-ins, and messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives and to keep momentum between meetings.
Start online instead of waiting
Our partner service asks a few questions about what you are looking for and matches you with a therapist for sessions from home.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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