About William
William Swieringa is a licensed clinical social worker with 39 years of experience helping people through hard life moments. He works with individuals facing stress, anxiety, addiction, grief, mood changes, and questions about identity and intimacy. He practices from Illinois and meets with clients online in English, including international clients.
His style combines practical tools and thoughtful conversation. He uses cognitive behavioral techniques to identify unhelpful patterns and acceptance and commitment strategies to focus on values and action.
How William works
Mindfulness and motivational interviewing are woven in to help people notice what matters and find motivation for change. Sessions are straightforward and goal oriented. He helps people set small, doable steps for sleep, eating, career decisions, or managing strong emotions.
When trauma, attachment or abandonment issues come up, he helps people make sense of painful memories and build new coping habits. He also supports those coping with chronic illness, caregiver stress, adoption and foster care concerns, neurodiversity, and transitions such as divorce or separation.
Work on parenting, anger, codependency, or compassion fatigue focuses on specific skills and realistic routines rather than abstract theory. William draws on decades of practice to tailor each session to the person in front of him. He aims to be practical, steady, and direct so people can leave sessions with clear next steps and more confidence managing daily life.
William lists 10 ways of working on the entry:
What William works with
The areas below are the ones William selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 39 |
| 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 therapy approaches translate online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck, then choose actions that match their values. It can be useful for anxiety, depression, and coping with life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and testing new behaviors to reduce symptoms like panic, low mood, or sleep problems. Mindfulness practices teach simple attention skills to reduce reactivity and support emotional balance.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. William will work with each person to try methods that match their goals and preferences, and adjust over time based on what helps. The aim is to build small, practical changes that fit day-to-day life rather than forcing one fixed method.
Online therapy offers flexibility for people with busy schedules or mobility limits. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when visual cues matter. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or a quieter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging suit brief check-ins, checklists, or between-session support. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent while fitting sessions into real life.
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Common questions
What kinds of problems does he address?
What is his general therapy style?
How much clinical experience does he bring?
Where does he practice and what credentials does he hold?
Which languages are supported and can international clients work with him?
What session formats are available?
How are costs and billing handled?
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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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