Luanne Maniacek, LCSW

Luanne Maniacek is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) based in Illinois with 40 years of experience supporting people facing stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, family and caregiver concerns, and other life challenges. She has worked across a wide age range and with diverse cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, and belief systems, bringing a broad perspective to each person she meets.

Her practice emphasizes a strength-based, client-centered approach that helps individuals identify existing resources and build new skills to move through difficult periods. She combines evidence-informed methods - including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing, psychodynamic approaches, solution-focused strategies, and trauma-focused work - to tailor care to each person’s goals and situation.

Ms. Maniacek brings particular experience with addictions, offering either a disease model or harm-reduction approach when clinically appropriate, and she also addresses relationship and intimacy concerns, parenting and family dynamics, caregiver stress, aging and geriatric issues, codependency, mood disorders including bipolar, grief, anger, self-esteem, career questions, and feelings of isolation or loneliness. Her style is empathic and supportive while also incorporating gentle challenge to encourage growth and forward movement. She is skilled in motivational interviewing and in listening closely to nuances beyond the words people use.

In addition to direct clinical work, she has experience supervising graduate-level therapist interns and counselors in community mental health settings and has led crisis intervention teams. Throughout her practice, open communication about progress and a clear understanding of each person’s history, expectations, and goals remain central to her work as a therapist.