- Years in practice
- 28
- Credentials
- LCSW
- Licensed in
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
- Focus
- Addictions
- Focus
- Relationship issues
- Focus
- Trauma and abuse
About Patricia
Patricia Prendergast is an LCSW with 28 years of clinical experience who helps parents and individuals facing hard moments. She focuses on practical support for parenting stress, addiction, grief, trauma, and everyday struggles like low self-esteem and anger. Patricia aims to make sessions straightforward and useful for people under pressure.
She uses clear, collaborative conversation to identify what matters most to each person. That can mean making a plan for coping with anxiety, finding ways to manage cravings, or sorting through relationship and communication problems.
Background and approach
Sessions are meant to be down-to-earth and focused on what the client wants to change. Patricia draws on several approaches to shape each plan. She values attachment-based thinking to understand close relationships, client-centered work to follow the person's lead, and cognitive behavioral ideas to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors.
Motivational interviewing helps when someone feels stuck, and narrative techniques can help rewrite painful experiences into more manageable stories. Her background includes long-term work with trauma, parenting challenges, and systems such as foster care and adoption contexts. This experience informs how she thinks about safety, boundaries, and practical next steps.
Patricia practices in Illinois as an LCSW and conducts sessions in English. People who want straightforward guidance and a collaborative partner often find her style helpful. She focuses on real-world tools, steady listening, and small achievable steps toward clearer routines and healthier relationships.
What Patricia works with
Everything Patricia lists, in the therapist's own terms. Parenting is the reason this directory exists; the rest shows what else Patricia helps people with.
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
- Parenting issues
- Eating disorders
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
- Depression
- Coaching
- Compassion fatigue
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Divorce and separation
- Guilt and shame
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self-love
Approaches Patricia lists
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist names and does not check training records.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
Attachment-based work looks at how early and current relationships shape patterns today; online sessions use this lens to improve connections, parenting responses, and trust. Client-centered therapy focuses on following the person's priorities and offering nonjudgmental listening, which helps people set goals and try new behaviors at their own pace. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, targets thoughts and behaviors with practical exercises such as tracking patterns and testing small changes to reduce anxiety and mood symptoms.Choosing an approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what has or has not helped before. Then she adapts techniques from these approaches so the plan fits the person's life and evolves as progress is made.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and skills practice. Phone sessions can work when bandwidth is limited or a quick check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging offer brief, flexible support between longer sessions and can help maintain momentum during busy weeks. These options make scheduling easier and let people access care from different places and moments in their week.
Questions people ask about Patricia
What concerns does Patricia commonly help with?
She works with parenting stress, addiction, trauma and abuse, grief, mood concerns, and issues like anger, self-esteem, and career stress.
What is her therapeutic style like?
Her approach is down-to-earth and collaborative, using clear conversation to set goals and practice coping skills that fit daily life.
How much experience does she bring?
She has 28 years of clinical experience working with individual clients and situations involving parenting and trauma.
What credentials and region are listed?
She holds an LCSW and is based in Illinois with clinical practice tied to that licensure.
Which languages and international options are offered?
Sessions are offered in English and she is not currently accepting international clients.
What session formats are available?
She offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and preferences.
How does payment and cost work?
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 working with her?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions according to the therapist's availability.
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