Shelly Flachs, LCSW
Practical, skills-based support for everyday parenting challenges
Book with Shelly- Years in practice
- 12
- Credentials
- LCSW
- Licensed in
- Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Iowa
- Languages
- English
- Focus
- Stress, Anxiety
- Focus
- Trauma and abuse
- Focus
- Grief
About Shelly
Shelly Flachs is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) practicing in Illinois. She brings 12 years of experience helping people who are coping with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, addiction, and parenting challenges. Her style is direct and practical, aimed at helping people make small changes that add up to real relief.
Shelly draws on methods such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), mindfulness, and motivational interviewing to shape sessions.
Background and approach
She adapts techniques to the person in front of her rather than using one fixed method. Sessions focus on clear steps you can try between meetings and on building skills to manage strong emotions. She has worked across a wide range of concerns including bipolar disorder, addictions, relationship and intimacy issues, self-esteem, eating and sleeping problems, and compassion fatigue.
Shelly also addresses less common difficulties such as abandonment, attachment issues, and chronic illness-related stress. Her experience includes helping people manage life transitions and career stress. Shelly emphasizes collaboration.
She helps people set realistic goals, track small wins, and adjust strategies over time. She explains techniques in plain language and checks in often to make sure approaches are useful. People who choose her can expect straightforward conversation and practical tools for coping.
Her background in social work informs a focus on real-life problems and workable solutions rather than jargon.
What Shelly works with
Everything Shelly lists, in the therapist's own terms. Parenting is the reason this directory exists; the rest shows what else Shelly helps people with.
- 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.
How evidence-based methods translate to online care
Shelly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help people identify unhelpful thoughts and test new behaviors. CBT sessions often include small exercises and homework you can do between meetings to change patterns that keep problems going.She also draws on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills to teach emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and clearer communication. DBT techniques are practical tools for managing intense feelings and reducing reactive behavior.
Finding the right approach is a team effort. Shelly will talk with each person about goals and daily challenges, then try methods that fit those needs. She checks in regularly and adjusts strategies if something isn’t working.
Online formats make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life. Video calls let people work face-to-face without travel. Phone sessions or live chat can be useful when bandwidth is low or you prefer not to use video. Text-based messaging supports shorter check-ins, ongoing coaching, or brief skill practice between sessions. These options give flexibility for different schedules and communication styles while keeping the focus on practical skills and progress.
Questions people ask about Shelly
What kinds of concerns does she address?
Shelly works with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma and abuse, bipolar disorder, addictions, relationship and intimacy concerns, eating and sleeping problems, parenting issues, anger, self-esteem, ADHD, and related areas listed in her profile.
What is her therapeutic style like?
Her approach is practical and collaborative. Sessions focus on clear steps, skill-building, and techniques from CBT, DBT, EFT, mindfulness, and motivational interviewing.
How much experience does she have?
She has 12 years of clinical experience working with a broad set of concerns and life transitions.
Where is she licensed and located?
Shelly is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with licensure noted as IL LCSW and ME LCSW, and she practices in Illinois.
Which languages are sessions offered in?
Sessions are offered in English.
What session formats does she offer?
She offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to accommodate different needs and schedules.
How are sessions paid for and what does it cost?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Begin by selecting the Start Therapy button, completing a short matching questionnaire, and then scheduling a session according to therapist availability.
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