Hello,
My name is Tracey Thomas. I am a mother of four daughters and six grandkids. For nearly 20 years, I have worked with thousands of people as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in different realms coming in with a wide range of symptoms, challenges, or maybe just at a crossroad needing someone to help them weigh the pros and cons. I have provided individual, couple/marital, family, and child and adolescent therapy, as well as, facilitated certain focus groups. There really has not been any particular issue I have not helped others navigate through. But, before I go into those areas I specialize in, you need to know the professional promises I operate from.

First, I don’t claim to know everything. I will let you know if what you need is something I am or am not knowledgeable about. Second, if I am not well-versed in a subject matter, and you decide to work with me, I will do the research. I am not interested in wasting your time. It is of utmost importance to me that we get to the heart of the matter and move forward. Second, if you, at any point, believe for whatever reason that you need to find a different counselor, I understand I cannot be all things to everyone. I will help you work with the company to find the right person for you. It happens. Thirdly, there is no such thing as failure. Just wanting to get help with whatever you are dealing with is a success.

That being said, in the beginning, I focused a few years on long-term care and the elderly population only to transition and focus primarily on child welfare (abuse and neglect). I operated a private practice, limited liability company, and worked for a major university simultaneously providing services to children, teens, parents, stepparents, adoptive parents, and foster parents that led to specializing in sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. I became one of the top experts in reactive attachment disorder and posttraumatic stress disorders within the state. These specializations gave way to see a pattern of abuse that was occurring among couples with children in the courts; Parental Alienation Syndrome, which drove my need to understand domestic violence further and become a certified family mediator for the courts in both Illinois and Missouri.

Moreover, in the past few years, I have worked in state forensics specifically with the population of persons with court-ordered statuses of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity or Unfit to Stand Trial. Much of this has been working with state psychiatrically hospitalized women in a medium-security facility, with a recent transition to working with community agencies that monitor those persons in the community to ensure those persons' stabilization and overall success, as well as, ensure community safety.

Despite the difficulty in attempting to sum up a 20-year career, I welcome any questions you may have about my approaches and specializations. Please know that I am committed to building a therapeutic relationship that supports your ability to be free to talk, feel, make mistakes, and celebrate successes.

I look forward to working with you.