Luanne Maniacek, LCSW

Luanne Maniacek is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Illinois with four decades of clinical experience. She helps people who are dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, grief, relationship and intimacy concerns, parenting strain, anger, low self-esteem, career issues, bipolar disorder, and coping with major life changes.

She writes the first session as a place to understand the person's perspective, history, goals, and expectations. Luanne listens for what is said and what is not said, and she combines a supportive stance with gentle challenges to encourage movement and change. Communication about progress is ongoing throughout care.

Her approach draws on several familiar methods. She uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help people clarify values and take action. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is used to identify patterns of thinking that feed stress and anger. Motivational Interviewing supports people who are ambivalent about change, especially around substance use and addictive behaviors.

She also works from client-centered and psychodynamic perspectives to explore relationship patterns and deeper personal history. For people with addiction concerns she discusses both a disease model and harm reduction, choosing what fits the person's situation. Her work includes experience supervising graduate trainees and leading crisis intervention teams in community settings.

Luanne practices in Illinois and conducts sessions in English. Her background emphasizes practical skills, ongoing dialogue about progress, and helping people build resources to manage anger and related problems in everyday life.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online work