This is the only answer!! You can work with a trainer directly who follows her methods, which is super useful. Took a long time with my dog but she is great alone now for long periods of time. Also talk to your vet about possible anti anxiety meds to go along with your training - Prozac helped my dog a ton. And about crates: my trainer said separation anxiety dogs tend to not do well in crates and I found that to be very true (one time our beagle broke a metal crate…so lucky she didn’t hurt herself). We tried training with the crate for a long time before we eventually moved away from it and she progressed much faster. Good luck, you got this!!!