About Lauren
Lauren Oestmann is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) based in Illinois. She brings 15 years of experience across many settings and aims to make the first steps toward help feel easier for worried parents and individuals. Lauren has worked in residential substance abuse programs, adoption preservation, corrections, and independent practice.
That mix means she is used to practical problems and real-life stressors. She focuses on everyday issues like anxiety, depression, grief, sleep struggles, parenting strain, and ADHD-related challenges.
Background and approach
Her approach is down-to-earth and centered on each person’s strengths. She draws on cognitive behavioral techniques to address unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. She also uses dialectical behavior strategies for strong emotions and trauma-focused work when past hurts are involved.
Sessions are collaborative and goal-oriented. Lauren uses motivational interviewing to clarify what matters and solution-focused methods to set small, doable steps. The goal is steady progress rather than quick fixes, and she partners with people to find what fits their life.
Practical concerns are part of the work. Lauren helps with parenting stress, relationship strain, career transitions, coping with life changes, and issues like addiction or bipolar mood challenges. She aims to make therapy feel useful, clear, and manageable for families and individuals seeking support.
Therapeutic approaches and online care
Lauren commonly draws on cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy in online sessions. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on identifying unhelpful thought and behavior patterns and practicing new ways of responding, which can help with anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and ADHD-related struggles. Dialectical behavior therapy offers tools for managing intense emotions and improving distress tolerance, useful for anger, mood swings, and crises.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about their goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t helped before. Together they decide which methods to try and adjust them as progress is made, keeping the plan practical and goal-focused.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different needs. Video is helpful for deeper conversation and visual cues, phone works when bandwidth is limited, live chat and texting are useful for brief check-ins or when typing feels easier. These options make it simpler to schedule care around school, work, or family life and to keep steady momentum between in-depth sessions.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Also listed
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Parenting issues
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Sleeping disorders
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 15 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
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