- Guilt and shame
- Caregiver stress
- Self esteem work
About Marikay
Marikay Gazda is an Illinois Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 35 years of experience. She works with adults facing depression, anxiety, grief, stress, and the strains of life transitions. She also supports concerns such as compassion fatigue, relationship difficulties, low self esteem, and feelings of guilt and shame.
She often sees people coping with aging, caregiving, chronic illness, or cancer. She helps with isolation, hospice and end-of-life issues, and the emotional effects of chronic pain and disability. Her practice includes work on attachment concerns, panic, and questions about life purpose.
Her style is grounded in approaches that keep the person central to the work. She uses client-centered methods to listen and reflect, and cognitive behavioral techniques to identify and shift unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. Emotionally-focused ideas inform how she attends to relational and attachment patterns.
Sessions aim to clarify what matters most and build practical steps for change. Conversations can include looking at past patterns and how they show up now, and developing brief strategies for coping with anxiety, grief, or caregiver stress. Marikay places attention on building self-love and improving everyday communication.
She brings long experience working with older adults and people facing medical challenges, and she integrates psychodynamic and solution-focused tools when helpful. People come to her wanting to make sense of difficult feelings and to find manageable ways forward.
How her approaches translate to online sessions
Marikay works from client-centered and cognitive behavioral viewpoints and often draws on emotionally-focused ideas. Client-centered work focuses on listening and reflecting to help someone clarify what matters. Cognitive behavioral methods look at thoughts and behaviors and use simple exercises to shift unhelpful patterns. Emotionally-focused ideas pay attention to how feelings and attachment needs show up in relationships and in the therapy room.Deciding which approach to use is part of the work together. She will collaborate with each person to choose strategies that fit their goals and daily life, and adjust the mix of approaches over time based on what helps most.
Session formats are not detailed in the provided biography, so confirm the current options before booking. Many people find online sessions helpful because they can fit work or caregiving responsibilities more easily into a week, have shorter check-ins when needed, or avoid travel on difficult days. A therapist can also suggest exercises to practice between sessions that fit into everyday routines.
Areas of expertise
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
35+ years
Listed in
Illinois
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns does she help with?
She works with depression, anxiety, grief, stress, relationship struggles, low self esteem, and feelings of guilt and shame.
How would she approach shame or guilt in sessions?
She uses a person-centered stance and techniques from cognitive behavioral and emotionally-focused approaches to name feelings, trace patterns, and practice different ways of responding.
How much experience does she have?
She has 35 years of experience as a clinician working with adults across many life transitions and health-related concerns.
What are her credentials and where is she based?
She is an Illinois Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) practicing in Illinois.
Can I work with her if I live outside the United States?
Sessions are offered in English and she is not currently accepting international clients.
What session formats does she offer?
Please confirm current session options before booking as formats are not specified in this biography.
How much do sessions cost?
Cost varies with location; sessions use a subscription 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.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, use the crisis numbers.