Meet Allison Manella, LCSW

Allison Manella, LCSW
River North Virtual

Allison is a Certified Light On Anxiety Treatment Specialist and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who received her Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis with a concentration in Mental Health. Allison received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a specialization in Clinical Psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has advanced clinical training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT).  Allison also incorporates elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and mindfulness to address anxiety and related disorders. Allison has extensive experience working with adolescents, young adults, and adults who experience generalized anxiety, social anxiety, health anxiety, career anxiety, depression, women’s health issues, and challenges with life transitions and relationships.

Allison’s therapeutic approach includes providing trauma-informed and strengths-based care with an emphasis on providing clients with the foundational knowledge to understand their symptoms and then taking an action-oriented approach to implement change. Allison values building rapport to collaborate with clients to cultivate an environment of acceptance and openness. She strives to incorporate client interests, creativity, and humor into client sessions to build genuine and empathic connections.  

Allison Manella is an amazing person and therapist. She has made so many positive impacts on my life in the past three months. During my sessions with her, I laugh, I cry, I discover things about myself that I’ve never even touched before. But her expertise reaches far beyond our session time – I feel my life changing in amazing ways outside of our time… How I am able to deal with stress, feeling more at peace, feeling able to handle tough convos… the list goes on! Allison is the best.

— LOA Patient

Education:

Washington University

Master of Social Work, Concentration in Mental Health

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Concentration in Clinical Psychology

Clinical Interests:

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)Adolescent AnxietyBody-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs)Career Anxiety & CounselingDepressionDialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)Driving AnxietyFear of FlyingGeneralized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)Hair Pulling (Trichotillomania)Health AnxietyLGBTQIA+ CommunityMind-Body TherapyMindfulnessMotivational InterviewingMulticultural CounselingObsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)Panic DisorderPerfectionismPerformance & Public Speaking AnxietyPerinatal & Postpartum AnxietyPhobiasPost-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)Relationship OCDSkin Picking (Dermatillomania)Social AnxietySpiritualityWomen's Health

If you are looking for therapy, medication or combined mental health treatment, learn more about how Light On Anxiety can create a custom individual treatment plan to fit your goals.

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