Murray Manus , LCSW

Murray Manus is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) practicing in Illinois who brings a strengths-based, humanistic perspective to therapy. He emphasizes positive psychology and client-centered care, helping people focus on what is working well in their lives rather than dwelling on deficits. With nine years of clinical experience, he aims to create an encouraging, supportive atmosphere that promotes growth and resilience.

Murray specializes in helping adults who experienced childhood trauma from ongoing abuse and neglect. Because he personally endured substantial emotional abuse and neglect during his own childhood, he has deep empathy for the long-term effects those experiences can have. That lived experience informs his work and helps him connect with clients who struggle to rediscover a core sense of self that may have been hidden for survival.

He works collaboratively to help clients identify buried needs, wants, and desires, and to heal emotional wounds so life can be shaped around those authentic needs. His practice supports people navigating relationship difficulties, self-esteem concerns, attachment issues, abandonment, and the complex emotional impacts of trauma, with an emphasis on rebuilding safety, identity, and meaningful connection.

Attachment and Emotion-Focused Care Online

Murray integrates Attachment-Based Therapy, Client-Centered Therapy, and Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) into his online practice to address trauma and relationship concerns. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationships shape current patterns of connection and helps clients develop more secure ways of relating. Client-Centered Therapy centers the person and their experience, offering a nonjudgmental space where a therapist follows the client's lead to strengthen self-awareness and self-worth. EFT focuses on emotions in the moment and the ways partners or individuals experience and respond to feelings, which can be especially useful for repairing bonds and resolving relational distress.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic journey, and Murray works collaboratively with each person to determine which methods best match their needs, goals, and preferences. That process is adaptive and guided by what the client finds most helpful.

Online therapy with Murray offers flexibility in how sessions happen - through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging - making it possible to access consistent care around work, family, or travel schedules. These options support continuity of care and make it easier for people to maintain momentum in healing and relationship work with licensed professionals and therapists who can tailor their approach to individual circumstances.