Carly Gelb, LCSW

Carly Gelb is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with eight years of experience. She works with people facing anxiety, depression, stress, addiction concerns, relationship struggles, and other difficult life challenges. Carly focuses on practical tools and steady support so people feel less overwhelmed and more able to move forward.

Carly uses a client-centered approach that keeps the person in charge of their goals. She blends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and mindfulness techniques depending on what fits. Sessions often include worksheets, journaling prompts, guided meditation, or art exercises when those tools help the person engage.

Her background includes supporting people through grief, trauma and abuse, bipolar mood challenges, parenting strain, career transitions, and compassion fatigue. She also helps with eating and sleeping concerns, ADHD-related struggles, intimacy issues, and substance and alcohol problems. Carly pays attention to patterns like attachment wounds, codependency, control issues, emptiness, and shame so therapy can target what keeps people stuck.

In sessions Carly aims to keep language clear and practical. She helps people notice unhelpful thoughts, build coping skills, and practice new behaviors between meetings. The pace and methods change to match each person’s needs and preferences.

Carly practices in Illinois and conducts work in English. People connect with her by completing a short matching questionnaire and scheduling sessions based on availability.

Evidence-based approaches for online care

Both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy are practical, skills-focused approaches Carly uses. CBT helps people identify and change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns to reduce symptoms like anxiety or low mood. ACT focuses on clarifying values and taking committed steps, which can help with avoidance, meaning, and motivation.

Client-Centered Therapy is also part of her work and emphasizes listening, respect, and collaboration. Carly will work together with each person to figure out which approaches fit best. Finding the right mix is a process she guides rather than a fixed decision, and techniques adjust to match goals and preferences.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy flexible. Video is useful for face-to-face conversations and practicing skills, phone works when bandwidth is limited, live chat can be a shorter check-in, and text messaging supports ongoing reflections between sessions. These options help people fit sessions into work, parenting, or travel schedules while keeping continuity of care.