Practitioner record · Checked 9 Oct 2026

Rima Mickus has been in practice 17 years and is licensed in Illinois. Rima lists stress, Anxiety, relationship issues and sleeping disorders among 22 subjects on the BetterHelp roster.

Everything below is either quoted from Rima's own BetterHelp listing, taken from public licensing records, or written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such. Nothing here is an availability promise, a review, or a rating.

17years in practice
22subjects listed
9approaches listed

01 · Who Rima works with

Rima works with stress, Anxiety, relationship issues and sleeping disorders

Rima lists 11 specialisms and 11 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Rima chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

Specialisms
  • Stress, Anxiety
  • Relationship issues
  • Sleeping disorders
  • Coping with life changes
  • Family conflicts
  • Trauma and abuse
  • Grief
  • Parenting issues
  • Self esteem
  • Career difficulties
  • Depression
Also experienced with
  • Codependency
  • Communication problems
  • Divorce and separation
  • Family of origin issues
  • Family problems
  • Infidelity
  • Life purpose
  • Midlife crisis
  • Mood disorders
  • Women's issues
  • Workplace issues

02 · In Rima's own words

What Rima says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

Welcome, I'm Rima Mickus, a fully licensed clinical counselor in Illinois and Arizona and am limited to working with only Illinois and Arizona residents at this time. I enjoy working with men and women who are struggling with relationship issues, anxiety, and insomnia. I have 20 years of experience as a counselor, and have been in private practice since 2013. I have post graduate training in couples counseling, relationship coaching, domestic violence, and non-drug treatment for insomnia (using CBT-I). I have a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Benedictine University in Illinois.

I work with adults in my private practice and enjoy helping them navigate through difficult circumstances. Relationship issues are usually a top stressor for many adults, whether it is family, dating, marriage, or work relationship issues. A bulk of my practice is helping adults with their relationships. We explore communication styles, personality differences, childhood influences, and other factors that impact the quality of our relationships. I help clients learn what a healthy relationship looks like and what constitutes abusive and disrespectful behavior.

Another area that I enjoy helping clients with is health , fitness, and weight management. I have a certification in Wellness coaching and have helped many clients improve their mood and health using some simple interventions.

Finally, an area that I find most important, but often neglected is sleep quality. Sleep is very under- rated but can make an enormous difference in a person's mood and cognitive function. I am trained directly by Dr Gregg Jacobs of the Harvard Medical School in providing CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia). This is a 5-6 week structured program that requires the participant to keep a detailed weekly sleep log. It has been very helpful in helping men and women get more hours of quality sleep at night. There is also a way to wean off of sleep medications, but this will require medical supervision with a doctor. If weaning from medications is involved, the program typically takes longer, depending on how long the medication has been used.

Please note that therapy is a very active process and frequent communication is important for maximum benefit. I will be contacting you through messaging more than once a week, as required by this service. I check messages at least 2 times per day. Your active participation is key to the success of your therapy. The more you participate, the more benefit you will get out of this service.

My general hours of service are M-F 9 am-4 pm CT. I check messages on weekends and occasionally offer sessions on weekends.

Let me know when you are ready to start your therapy. I am looking forward to working with you!

Warm regards, Rima

Rima Mickus, on the BetterHelp listing · read 9 Oct 2026

03 · How Rima works

The 9 approaches Rima lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Rima lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Rima's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Rima runs a session.

Acceptance and Commitment TherapyACT
Rather than trying to argue a painful thought away, ACT works on loosening its grip and getting on with what matters to you anyway. Sessions spend real time naming your values, then building action around them while difficult feelings are still present.
Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian
The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.
Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT
Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and ReprocessingEMDR
A structured trauma protocol in which you hold a distressing memory in mind while following a repeated side-to-side cue. The mechanism is still debated; the outcome data in post-traumatic stress is strong enough that it appears in national treatment guidelines.
Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT
Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.
Motivational InterviewingMI
A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Works on the assumption that current patterns - in relationships, at work, in how you treat yourself - have a history, and that seeing the history loosens the pattern. Less structured than CBT, usually longer, and more interested in what comes up unbidden than in a weekly agenda.
Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT
Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.
Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed
CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Rima practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Rima's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

  1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

    BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Rima at this point.

  2. Naming Rima specifically

    BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Rima is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Rima.

  3. If the caseload is full

    You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

  4. The first conversation

    A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

  5. If the fit is wrong

    Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Rima

Built from what Rima actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Rima's - Rima has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

  • “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Client-Centred Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

    Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

  • “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

    Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

  • “With 17 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

    Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

  • “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

    On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential
LCPC
Licensed in
Illinois
Licence
IL LCPC 180.008021, AZ LPC LPC-21513
Licence number
180.008021
Licence expires
31 Mar 2027
NPI
1861758807
Years in practice
17
Gender
Female
Languages
English
International clients
Not accepted
Listed since
15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Rima's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 9 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Rima. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

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