Amanda Eshelman

My name is Amanda and I am a Licensed Social Worker. I obtained my Masters in Social Work from DePaul University. I was drawn to social work because of my passion to provide others with support and advocacy against any obstacle they face. Through my training at DePaul, I gained experience providing Social Emotional Learning to adolescents as well as grief and loss counseling to adults from various backgrounds and identities. I have been practicing individual therapy since January 2025 prior to joining Empowered Therapy.

My clinical specialties include anxiety, depression, grief and loss, trauma, and adoption issues including working with individuals who identify at LGBTQIA+ and/or are neurodivergent. My focus is to create a safe and collaborative relationship with a holistic and strengths-based approach. I enjoy helping others navigate through various issues such as perfectionism, decision/task paralysis, self-harm and suicide ideation or other obsessional thoughts, interpersonal relationships, asserting boundaries, identity issues, and processing past or current traumas. I draw from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) as well as using elements of Internal Family Systems Therapy, Grief Work and Trauma-Based Therapy. I balance taking a direct approach with allowing individuals to drive the sessions where they need to go. I incorporate humor, curiosity and shared interests to help build rapport because I think there is always more to learn and explore about who I work with.