About Afsha
Afsha Merchant is a licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC) who helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, relationship struggles, and trauma. She creates a calm, nonjudgmental space where clients can talk about hard things and begin to feel steadier. Her tone is warm and practical, with a focus on small steps that fit into everyday life.
She often supports people working on self-esteem, communication problems, social anxiety, and attachment concerns. Afsha also addresses issues such as grief, body image, workplace stress, and complexities around identity and belonging.
Background and approach
Her background includes seven years of clinical work in Illinois as an LCPC. Afsha uses a collaborative style that combines talking with body-based awareness. She draws on Somatic Therapy to help people notice how stress shows up in the body and on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thoughts.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills and the Gottman Method inform her work with relationship patterns and practical communication tools. Sessions aim to be straightforward and usable. Afsha listens, reflects, and offers exercises you can try between sessions.
She pays attention to cultural context and personal history when shaping interventions. She speaks English, Spanish, Hindi, and Urdu, and works with international clients as needed. To begin, people complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule sessions based on the therapist's availability.
How different approaches work in online therapy
Somatic Therapy helps people notice how emotions and stress show up in the body, using gentle attention to breath, posture, and sensation to reduce tension and increase awareness. It can be useful for trauma, chronic stress, and body-related concerns.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying unhelpful thought patterns and testing them with real-life experiments. It is often used for anxiety, depression, and stress because it gives clear steps to change responses and routines.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, teaches specific skills for managing strong emotions, improving relationships, and tolerating distress. These concrete tools can be helpful when emotions feel overwhelming.
Finding the right approach is a team effort. The therapist will discuss your goals, preferences, and how you respond to different methods. Together you can try methods that feel like a fit and adjust over time based on what helps most.
If you are considering online therapy, check the current session options before booking since formats are not listed here. Online work can make scheduling easier, reduce travel time, and let people fit sessions into workdays or caregiving routines. Some formats also make shorter check-ins or phone-only conversations possible when that works best for daily life.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of problems does Afsha help with?
What is her therapeutic style like?
How much clinical experience does she have?
What are her credentials and location?
Which languages are available for sessions?
Can international clients work with her?
How are session formats arranged and what do they cost?
How do I start therapy with her?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Money and financial issues
- Multicultural concerns
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Visually impaired
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 7 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English, Spanish, Hindi, Urdu