Tamela Polanin, LCPC
Licensed in Illinois · 20 years in practice
Tamela Polanin welcomes people who are feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or burned out.
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 any license with the state board and any NPI with the national registry.
About Tamela
Tamela Polanin welcomes people who are feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or burned out. She speaks plainly and listens closely so parents and adults can find clearer steps forward. Tamela draws on two decades of clinical experience and aims to make the first contact simple and understandable.
She practices in Illinois and holds an LCPC, which she brings to her work with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and addictions. Sessions focus on real-life problems like parenting strain, grief, relationship conflict, career changes, and coping after loss.
Background and approach
Tamela also addresses concerns such as ADHD, body image, codependency, and compassion fatigue. Tamela uses a client-centered stance that puts the person’s goals first. She combines that with practical techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy to build coping skills and change unhelpful patterns.
For trauma she offers approaches such as EMDR and emotionally-focused work to help process painful memories and rebuild connection to current life. Her style is straightforward and warm. She helps people set manageable goals, practice new skills between sessions, and track small wins.
Parents will find clear guidance on parenting stress, fatherhood issues, blended family dynamics, and adoption or foster-care related concerns. Tamela also works with people facing abandonment, attachment struggles, divorce and separation issues, domestic violence aftermath, and forgiveness work. She aims to walk alongside clients as they rebuild routines, manage emotional ups and downs, and strengthen day-to-day coping.
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
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- 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
How Tamela’s Approaches Work Online
Client-centered therapy focuses on the person’s goals and perspective, with the therapist listening and reflecting to help people find their own answers. This approach helps when someone needs space to make sense of feelings or decide on next steps.Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings and actions and teaches practical tools to change unhelpful patterns. It is useful for anxiety, depression, stress and some behavior changes. Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, adds skills for managing intense emotions, improving relationships, and tolerating distress in the moment.
Finding the right mix is part of the process. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose techniques that match their goals, pace, and comfort level so sessions feel relevant and manageable.
Online sessions can be scheduled as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, which gives flexibility for different days and routines. Video lets people work face-to-face when that helps, phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is low or a quicker check-in is needed, and messaging supports short updates or ongoing coaching between appointments. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, parenting, or travel schedules while keeping focus on steady progress.
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Questions people ask
What concerns does Tamela commonly help with?
She works with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and addictions, as well as parenting strain, grief, relationship and intimacy-related issues.
What is her general therapy style?
Her approach is client-centered and practical, combining listening with skill-building from cognitive behavioral and dialectical behavior therapy.
How much experience does she have?
She has 20 years of experience working in mental health and has focused much of her work on trauma and recovery.
What credentials and location are listed?
She holds an LCPC and practices in Illinois.
Which languages and international options are available?
Sessions are offered in English, and she accepts international clients.
What session formats does she offer?
Therapy is available via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different needs.
How does cost and billing work?
Cost varies by location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Click the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to therapist availability.
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