Therapist profile
Austa Murray, LCSW
Illinois
Licensed Clinical Social Worker - Anger and Trauma
Continue with AustaKey details
- CredentialsLCSW
- LicenseLCSW, Illinois / 149.010100
- NPI1932750775
- Experience22 years
- LanguagesEnglish
- LocationIllinois
About
- Attachment based work
- CBT and DBT skills
- Parenting and relationships
About Austa
Austa Murray is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) practicing in Illinois with 22 years of experience. She helps people manage stress, anxiety, anger, depression, relationship and parenting concerns, trauma and abuse, and related struggles. Sessions focus on what the person wants to address first and move at a pace they can handle.
Austa draws on attachment and trauma-informed perspectives to understand how early relationships shape current feelings and reactions. She also uses cognitive behavioral ideas to look at patterns of thought and behavior that keep problems going. Practical skill building is combined with opportunities to reflect and gain insight into recurring patterns.
Her style is client-centered and educational. She listens, offers explanations, and teaches hands-on skills people can try between sessions. Work might include emotion regulation strategies, communication practice, or reframing thoughts that fuel anger or anxiety.
She has experience across individual and group settings and with a range of life challenges, including sexual assault, emotional abuse, caregiving stress, adoption and foster care issues, and attachment difficulties. That background informs how she tracks progress and adjusts the pace of sessions.
People who want clear explanations, actionable techniques, and steady support often find this approach a good fit. The focus is on manageable steps - reducing reactivity, improving communication, and building coping skills for the long term.
How sessions work
How attachment, CBT and skills work in online sessions
Austa uses attachment-based ideas to look at how early caretaking relationships shape current reactions and patterns. This perspective helps when anger comes from feeling unheard, abandoned, or misunderstood. She also uses cognitive behavioral therapy to identify thoughts and behaviors that keep frustration and resentment active, and to practice alternative responses.Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills are often part of the work when strong emotions need managing. Those skills include breathing and grounding techniques, distress tolerance steps, and ways to notice urges before they become actions. Together these approaches aim to reduce reactivity and improve communication in stressful moments.
Finding the right mix of approaches is collaborative. The therapist will talk through goals and preferences, try methods, and adjust based on what helps most. Clients are encouraged to practice skills between meetings so progress can be tracked and refined.
Session formats are not listed in the biography, so confirm current online options before booking. In general, online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a day, allow short check-ins when schedules are tight, and let people use practices learned in session during normal routines. Ask about format details when you complete the questionnaire so the setup matches your needs.
Areas of focus
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
22+ years
Listed in
Illinois
Languages
English
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of anger or temper issues does she address?
She helps with snapping at loved ones, workplace frustration, built-up resentment, and related emotional reactivity as part of a broader set of concerns.
How would she approach work on anger?
She blends attachment-informed perspectives with CBT and DBT skills to teach emotion regulation, communication techniques, and thought-challenging exercises.
How much clinical experience does she bring?
Austa has 22 years of experience in mental health settings, including individual and group work and work with trauma and attachment issues.
What credential and location should I expect?
She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, credentialed as an IL LCSW and based in Illinois.
Can I work with her if I live outside the United States?
Sessions are offered in English and she is not currently accepting international clients.
What session formats are available?
Confirm the current session options before booking since the biography does not list specific formats on file.
How much do sessions cost?
Cost varies with location; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin scheduling a first session?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule your first session.
Details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. A license can be checked with the state board.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If anyone is unsafe, use the crisis numbers.