Dr.
01About Athena
Dr. Athena Porter brings more than 21 years of clinical experience to her practice in Illinois. She holds an IL LCPC and a doctorate in Clinical/Community Psychology.
Her work focuses on helping people who are managing stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, trauma, and addiction. She also supports concerns such as self-esteem, relationship struggles, career stress, and parenting challenges. She favors practical, evidence-informed approaches that give people concrete tools to cope.
Background and approach
Sessions often include strategies from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy along with mindfulness and existential perspectives. Hypnotherapy is another option she may use when it fits a person's goals. Her background includes community outreach and public education across Chicagoland, other U.S. cities, and Ghana.
That work involved health fairs, awareness campaigns, and media presentations on topics like suicide prevention, PTSD, substance use, and smoking cessation. This mix of clinical and community experience shapes how she thinks about healing and wellness. In sessions she aims to balance symptom relief with personal growth.
Conversations move at a steady pace and focus on skills people can try between meetings. She offers coaching-style support for people wanting clearer goals alongside therapy for emotional concerns. People who value practical tools, straightforward conversation, and a perspective that considers social context may find her approach helpful.
She provides services in English and works with a wide range of mood, stress, and life-change issues.
02Credentials
- LCPC (Illinois)
- License 180.002727 · expires March 2027
- NPI
- 1306942107 · national provider identifier
Both are public records. A state board register will confirm a license and its standing, and the national registry will confirm an NPI. This directory copies what the counselor lists and checks neither.
03Focus areas and approaches
Everything Athena lists on their public professional profile, in their own terms.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Depression
- Coping with life changes
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Parenting issues
- Career difficulties
- Bipolar disorder
- Coaching
- ADHD
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Communication problems
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Family of origin issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Midlife crisis
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Methods Athena names
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Existential Therapy
- Hypnotherapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
These are the methods Athena names on their own professional profile. Naming an approach is not evidence of training or certification in it, and this directory checks no training records. Ask directly if it matters to you.
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04Online support
Therapeutic approaches and online care
Dr. Porter uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. CBT is practical and useful for anxiety, depression, panic, and many stress-related problems.She also draws on Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills to teach emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and clearer communication. DBT tools are often helpful for strong emotions, relationship conflicts, and patterns that keep repeating.
Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will work collaboratively to match methods to a person's goals, needs, and preferences, and may combine techniques over time as progress and priorities emerge.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make care more flexible. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone sessions can fit into a busy day or use less bandwidth, live chat supports shorter check-ins, and messaging lets people share thoughts between meetings. These options help people fit therapy into school, work, caregiving, and other routines.
05Questions people ask
What concerns does she address?
She helps people with stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, trauma and abuse, addictions, relationship and intimacy issues, grief, parenting stress, ADHD, and other mood and behavioral concerns.
What is her general therapy style?
Her style blends practical skills teaching with reflective conversation. She uses approaches that offer concrete techniques as well as space to consider meaning and values.
How long has she practiced?
She has over 21 years of experience working in clinical and community settings, including public education and outreach projects.
What credentials and location are listed?
She holds an IL LCPC and a doctorate in Clinical/Community Psychology and provides services based in Illinois.
Which languages are supported?
Sessions are offered in English.
What session formats are available?
She offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging as options for connecting.
How does cost and payment work?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
To start, select the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions based on therapist availability.
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