About Shelly
Shelly Flachs is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) practicing in Illinois. She brings 12 years of clinical experience and a steady, practical approach to common life struggles. Shelly focuses on straightforward tools people can use between sessions.
She speaks English and meets people online through video, phone, chat, or text. Shelly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy to help people manage intense feelings and change unhelpful thinking.
How Shelly works
She also draws on Emotionally-Focused Therapy and mindfulness practices to increase emotional awareness and improve connection with oneself. Sessions aim to identify small, doable steps that build toward larger goals. The work often addresses stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, trauma, grief, addictions, and self-esteem.
Shelly also supports concerns such as eating and sleeping problems, parenting strain, relationship or intimacy-related issues, and compassion fatigue. Additional focuses include ADHD, attachment and abandonment issues, caregiver stress, chronic pain and illness, and body image. Her background includes many years supporting people through coping with life changes and career challenges, plus coaching to build practical skills.
Shelly combines goal-focused work with emotion-focused tools so people leave sessions with clear next steps. Her LCSW credential is held in Illinois and Maine as IL LCSW and ME LCSW. Sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
To begin, prospective clients complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule a time that fits their availability. Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging.
Shelly lists 10 ways of working on the entry:
What Shelly works with
The areas below are the ones Shelly 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
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- 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
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Fertility issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Register | LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 12 |
| 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
Therapeutic approaches for online care and emotional growth
CBT, or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing them with small behavioral changes. It is often used for anxiety, depression, stress, and mood management to build practical coping skills. DBT, or Dialectical Behavior Therapy, emphasizes skills for regulating intense emotions, tolerating distress, and improving interpersonal effectiveness. It can help when emotions feel overwhelming or when patterns of reactivity cause problems in daily life. Emotionally-Focused Therapy helps people notice and name emotions and use that awareness to improve how they relate to themselves and others; it can be useful for improving emotional understanding and intimacy.Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and the problem at hand, then suggest techniques to try. This collaborative process makes it easier to adjust methods over time if something isnt working.
Online therapy formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions let people use visual cues for deeper emotional work. Phone sessions can be a lower-bandwidth option or an easier fit during a break at work. Live chat and text messaging are useful for brief check-ins, skill coaching, or when writing feels more comfortable. These options make it simpler to fit therapy into a busy life and keep momentum between appointments.
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.
Book with ShellyWe will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.
Common questions
What concerns does Shelly address?
What is her therapeutic style like?
How much clinical experience does she have?
Where is she licensed to practice?
Can people outside the U.S. work with her?
What session formats are available?
How does payment and cost work?
How do I begin therapy with Shelly?
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.
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you. Entries are not assessed or endorsed by this directory.
Other entries for stress, anxiety
Supportive LCSW helping people build strength and clarity
Practical, trauma-aware therapy for everyday life
Practical, relational therapy for life transitions