About Eric
Eric Forster is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) in Illinois with 20 years of experience. He helps people with parenting concerns, career challenges, addiction and substance issues, anxiety, depression, relationship strain, and trauma. He also supports those coping with sleep problems, anger, self-esteem struggles, bipolar disorder, and big life changes.
Eric takes a straightforward, respectful approach. He treats each person as the expert on their life and builds on existing strengths.
Background and approach
Sessions focus on practical steps that fit daily life and the specific problems at hand. He aims to make therapy understandable and useful for busy people. In practice he mixes conversational listening with goal-oriented methods.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is used to identify unhelpful thoughts and try different responses. Motivational Interviewing helps people find their own reasons for change and move toward goals at their own pace. He also draws on Client-Centered and Narrative approaches to help people tell and reframe their stories.
Psychodynamic ideas inform his attention to patterns that repeat in relationships and stress. Together these approaches create a flexible plan tailored to each person’s needs. Eric has experience helping people navigate health systems and end-of-life or caregiving stress.
He offers coaching for professionals and support for compassion fatigue. Sessions are offered in English and take place online through multiple formats.
Online approaches that fit your life
Eric uses a few different methods to help people make changes and feel better. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on spotting patterns in thoughts and behaviors and trying concrete alternatives to improve mood and functioning; it is useful for anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and anger. Motivational Interviewing supports people who feel stuck or unsure about change by helping them clarify personal reasons and build momentum at their own pace. Client-Centered Therapy creates a space where the person’s perspective leads the work and strengths are the starting point for change.Choosing the right approach is part of the process. Eric works collaboratively to match methods to each person’s goals, needs, and preferences. That means some sessions may be more structured and skill-based, while others focus on understanding recurring patterns and telling your story differently.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation while phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging make it possible to share updates and work between sessions or fit a session into a busy day. These options help people continue work on parenting, career stress, caregiving burdens, or mental health concerns without lengthy travel or scheduling barriers.
Frequently asked questions
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What background and experience does he have?
What are his credentials and where is he based?
Which languages are offered and can international clients work together?
What session formats are available?
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Parenting issues
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
Also works with
- Addictions
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- HIV / AIDS
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Personality disorders
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English