- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Emotionally focused work
About Suzanne
Suzanne Martinez is an Illinois licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) with 25 years of clinical experience. She works with adults who are carrying strong feelings like guilt, shame, anxiety, and depression and with those facing relationship strain, parenting pressures, or career stress. Suzanne also supports people dealing with trauma, grief, addiction concerns, ADHD, and issues that arise from family of origin or adoption and foster care backgrounds.
She draws from several practical approaches to help people change painful patterns. Suzanne uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify thoughts and behaviors that keep people stuck. She also works with emotionally focused ideas to improve how people connect in close relationships and with existential questions about meaning and direction.
Sessions focus on clear goals and skill building. Suzanne helps clients notice unhelpful thoughts, test new behaviors, and practice ways of relating that feel more honest and manageable. She offers coaching-style guidance for career and life transitions alongside clinical work for depression, bipolar concerns, and trauma-related symptoms.
Suzanne has experience in both community and university settings and has taught and written about psychological wellbeing for many years. She is an Illinois Supreme Court Approved Mediator for Judicial Circuit Courts, a role she began in 2020.
People who choose her tend to want direct tools and real-world strategies. Her work emphasizes practical steps toward better communication, clearer boundaries, and improved daily functioning rather than abstract theory.
To begin clients complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule a first session using the site's online options.
How Suzanne Uses Therapy Approaches Online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on noticing painful thoughts and feelings without letting them determine actions. It can help when guilt or shame lead to avoidance or frozen choices. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behavior and introduces concrete experiments to test unhelpful beliefs and change routines that reinforce shame.Choosing which approach to use is part of the work. Suzanne treats this as a collaborative process. She will discuss your goals and preferences, try strategies, and adjust the focus as you learn what helps most in your daily life.
The original biography did not list specific online or in-person session formats. Please confirm current session options before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce travel time so work and family commitments are easier to manage. Therapists typically adapt exercises and homework so they work in real-world settings, and Suzanne aims to help clients practice new skills between sessions to carry changes into everyday life.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
25+ years
Listed in
Illinois
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns does she help with?
She helps with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, parenting strain, trauma and abuse, grief, addiction concerns, ADHD, and related issues like family of origin and attachment problems.
How would she approach feelings of guilt or shame?
She uses approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to gently examine painful thoughts and to practice different responses that reduce their hold on daily life.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has 25 years of experience working in clinical and university settings, and has also taught and written about personal wellbeing and psychological growth.
What are her credentials and where is she based?
She is an Illinois licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) based in Illinois and listed as an Illinois LMFT.
Can I work with her if I live outside the United States?
Sessions are offered in English and she is not accepting international clients at this time.
What session formats does she offer?
Confirm current session options before booking by using the site controls, as the original biography does not specify which remote or in-person formats are used.
How does cost work for sessions?
Cost varies with location; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session through the site.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, use the crisis numbers.