Tamela Polanin

Tamela Polanin is an Illinois-based counselor with 20 years of experience helping people facing anger, stress, anxiety, and life transitions. She frames work around the person in front of her, listening first and following the client’s lead. Her approach is warm and straightforward, aimed at practical changes that make daily life easier for parents and individuals alike.

She draws on client-centered methods to build trust and create a space where people can name what they are feeling. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy tools are used to spot patterns of thought and behavior that keep problems going. Tamela also uses Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills for emotion regulation and coping when feelings feel overwhelming.

Tamela has focused a large part of her practice on trauma and grief and mentions personal experience with trauma that informs her empathy. She incorporates EMDR-informed ideas alongside other trauma-focused strategies to help people process difficult memories and reduce their ongoing impact.

Her background includes work across many common concerns: relationships, parenting, addiction, depression, ADHD, career stress, and intimacy-related issues. She also lists additional focus areas such as attachment, blended family challenges, forgiveness, and adoption and foster care topics.

Sessions are offered in English, and she accepts international clients. Tamela holds an Illinois Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor credential, LCPC. To begin, clients complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule according to her availability using the Start Therapy button.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online care

Client-centered therapy puts the person’s priorities first. The therapist listens, follows what matters to the client, and adjusts pacing and topics based on each session. This approach helps people feel heard and keeps goals practical and relevant.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on noticing thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going. Online sessions can guide people through new ways of thinking and small behavioral experiments to try between meetings. Those steps are useful for anger, anxiety, depression, and stress-related issues.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT, teaches concrete skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and clearer communication. These skills can be practiced in real life and reviewed during online meetings to see what works and where to adjust.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with clients to identify goals and pick methods that fit their needs and preferences. That plan can shift over time as goals change.

The original biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm current options before booking. In general, online care can make it easier to fit sessions into busy lives, shorten commute time, allow brief check-ins when needed, and let people join from different locations. Licensed professionals can adapt worksheets, skills coaching, and trauma-focused work to an online setting while keeping the focus on real-world results.