Works with
- Anger
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
- Bipolar disorder
- Depression
How Shelly works
Practical facts
- Credentials
- LCSW
- Licensed in
- Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Iowa
- Years in practice
- 12
- Languages
- English
- Session format
- Online, through our partner platform
About Shelly
Shelly Flachs is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) practicing in Illinois. She offers compassionate, straightforward help for people dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, addiction, and anger. Shelly uses clear, practical methods so people can make steady changes in day-to-day life.
Shelly brings 12 years of clinical experience to sessions. She draws on cognitive behavioral techniques to identify unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns. She also uses dialectical behavior ideas for emotion regulation and skills-building.
Background and approach
Emotionally-focused work helps people understand and shift painful relationship patterns. Sessions tend to be goal-oriented and collaborative. Shelly helps clients set small, manageable steps and then practices skills together in session.
She focuses on what will make life feel safer and more livable, such as better sleep, fewer angry outbursts, or improved coping during stressful times. People who have experienced trauma, mood changes, or ongoing stress often find the combination of skills practice and emotional processing useful.
Shelly also supports clients coping with identity questions, career stress, caregiving strain, and body image or eating concerns. She explains ideas plainly and checks in to make sure techniques fit each person. Therapy can include talk, skill-building exercises, and mindfulness practice.
Shelly works with people to adapt tools to daily routines so progress is sustainable. Her practice centers on respectful listening and practical steps toward change.
What Shelly works with
Everything Shelly lists, in the therapist's own terms. Anger is the reason this directory exists; the rest tells you what usually sits alongside it in Shelly's practice.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
- Bipolar disorder
- Depression
- Addictions
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Intimacy-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Sleeping disorders
- Parenting issues
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
- Coping with life changes
- Coaching
- Compassion fatigue
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Fertility issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Approaches Shelly lists
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist names and does not check training records.
Practical therapy approaches for online care
Shelly commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy online. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on spotting unhelpful thoughts and testing them against real life. It helps with anxiety, depression, anger, and sleep problems by changing small daily habits. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) emphasizes skills for managing intense emotions and improving distress tolerance. It is useful for people who want clearer ways to handle anger, impulsive urges, and relationship stress.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Shelly will talk with each person about their goals and preferences, try techniques together, and adjust methods over time. The aim is to match skills and strategies to the issues that matter most to the client.
Online formats let sessions fit into busy lives. Video calls are good for in-depth conversations and practicing skills with visual cues. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is low or someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text-based messaging are useful for brief check-ins, coaching on skills, or keeping momentum between longer sessions. These options provide flexibility so people can keep therapy consistent around work, caregiving, and other demands.
Questions people ask about Shelly
What concerns does she help with?
Shelly works with a wide range of issues including stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, grief, addictions, anger, self-esteem, and coping with life changes.
What is her approach in sessions?
Therapy is collaborative and practical. She uses cognitive behavioral strategies, dialectical behavior ideas, and emotionally-focused techniques to teach skills and process emotions.
How much experience does she have?
Shelly has 12 years of clinical experience working with adults on mood, trauma, stress, and relationship-related concerns.
What credentials and location apply?
She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker - LCSW - with credentials listed as IL LCSW and ME LCSW, and she practices from Illinois.
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English.
What formats are available for working together?
Services are offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to suit different needs.
How are fees and billing handled?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions are provided through a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin therapy with her?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions according to therapist availability.