Amanda Halawa-Mahdi

Amanda Halawa-Mahdi is a licensed clinical social worker in Illinois with 23 years of experience. She helps people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, or depression. She also supports clients dealing with family conflict, workplace strain, and questions about life purpose and self-worth.

Amanda uses Trauma-Focused Therapy when past hurt is part of the problem, and she pairs that with practical tools from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and client-centered conversations. Sessions tend to focus on clear goals, skill-building, and making changes that fit daily life.

Her background includes work in settings where behavior change was a focus, and she has professional coach training from the Co-Active Training Institute. That coaching perspective shows up as an emphasis on decision making, values alignment, and growing confidence.

Amanda also pays attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion and brings that perspective into her work on bias and fairness. She describes therapy as a collaborative effort that builds on each person’s strengths rather than starting from deficits.

People who choose Amanda often want a mix of practical strategies and reflective conversation. She aims to help clients notice what’s getting in the way, try small changes, and build toward clearer choices and stronger self-respect.

How Amanda’s approaches translate to online care

Amanda uses Trauma-Focused Therapy to help people who are coping with the effects of past hurt. That work usually involves careful pacing, stabilizing skills, and gradually facing painful memories when the person is ready. Client-Centered Therapy is also central to her practice and focuses on listening, understanding each person’s perspective, and building goals that reflect their values.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy provides practical tools to change unhelpful thinking and behavior. It can help with anxiety, low mood, and workplace stress by teaching simple exercises and behavioral experiments to try between sessions. Amanda treats approach selection as a collaborative process and will work with each person to find the right mix of methods for their goals and preferences.

The original profile does not list which online formats are offered, so please confirm current session options before booking. In general, online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, offer shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce travel time. Amanda aims to help people apply therapeutic tools to everyday routines so change can happen alongside daily responsibilities.