Therapists in Chicago, IL

Has Openings- Sometimes we lose our way, have parts of ourselves we wish to change, or long for better relationships. While I work with everyone, I have specialized in working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, and queer individuals. As a result, I am familiar with how the world around you can make it difficult to get your needs met. Therapy provides a space where we consider your unique experience without judgment or criticism and help you find a path forward that is inclusive of your needs. I offer an affirming environment to help you pay attention to what you really want and who you really are.

Lucas specializes in working with individuals and couples who identify as part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer population. Within the LGBTQ population, he has further expertise in working with those who wish to address the implications of their trauma history, HIV/AIDS-related health and wellness, Depression, Anxiety, issues related to Aging and Substance Abuse and Dependance related disorders.

Who you are… straight, transgender, bisexual, lesbian, gay, queer, genderqueer, questioning… is an essential part of our work together. I welcome your whole self, supporting traditional and non-traditional families: blended, multiracial, multigenerational, foster, poly, leather, and members of kink communities. Therapy promotes healing, growth, and change. We'll focus together to understand your thoughts and behaviors. Our work together will help you develop new coping skills. Growth happens by reinforcing your strengths and values, increasing your self-awareness, and help you build a tolerance for distress and ambiguity.

As a psychologist, my goal is to help you uncover your true potential and help you find ways to be your best self. While we can't change difficult situations of the past, we can use them to better understand and resolve the current challenges in your life. By working collaboratively, we will work to adjust behavior patterns or negative perceptions that may be holding you back from experiencing a more fulfilling and meaningful life.

Monica is a psychotherapist at Emerge Counseling Chicago intent on helping individuals who are experiencing anxiety or depression stemming from relationship, self-esteem, and identity issues. Monica grounds her approach in relational-cultural therapy, fostering a space where clients are invited to be their true selves in the room and grow to feel comfortable with all aspects of their being. Navigating a world where relationships with others can be impacted by your relationship with yourself and your identities, Monica strives to create a space where clients can explore and build confidence in who they are.

In therapy, it feels essential to look at not only our own thoughts and emotions but also the expectations set by our environment. I utilize affirmative, trauma-informed, and relational lenses to encourage insight and explore assumptions impacting how we engage with the world around us. My clinical and research focuses relate to sexual identity, gender diversity and transition, and ethically non-monogamous relationships. Aside from these, I work often with anxiety, depression, communication, conflict management, boundaries, trauma, life transitions, discrimination, substance use, and premarital/marital counseling.

For more than 35 years, Center on Halsted has helped Chicago's LGBTQ community and caring allies meet their behavioral health needs. Our team of therapists offer individual therapy, group therapy, and letters of support for gender affirming surgeries. Our Behavioral Health phone line operates as a bank of information about our services (including scheduling an initial screening), community resources, and possible referrals. These services are offered both in English and Spanish.

We all have areas of growth and great strengths. My approach to therapy honors your strengths and uses them to enhance personal growth. I have a passion for working with people who experience issues related to identity, life transitions, depression, anxiety, and relationships. I want to assist in helping you reach your goals and long-term emotional health. I have experience working with diverse communities in a variety of mental health settings. I specialize in working with those who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community and have additional specialized experience working with those who have experienced trauma.

I currently specialize in supporting neurodivergent and/or queer emerging adults as they navigate the anxieties and stressors of late stage capitalism. I particularly enjoy working with late-diagnosed or self-diagnosed autistic young adults. I also work with trauma survivors, people with chronic illnesses and pain, and LGBTQ2IA emerging adults. I am sex/kink/polyamory-positive, body-neutral, and sex-worker affirming. I strive to acknowledge and to combat the systemic impact of White supremacy, including its relationship to fatphobia, transphobia, and ableism.

I primarily work with individuals and couples moving through life’s unique challenges. I have experience working with individuals who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community and clients who are neurodivergent, working to operate in a neurotypical society. I am sex & poly knowledgable. I have experience working with anxiety, depression, trauma, identity exploration, and relational issues. Before working as a therapist, I was an actor and artist, where my strengths of empathy and curiosity were developed.

If you are tired of talking in circles, feel burnt out, and stuck, then you've come to the right place! My clients are people who feel ready to explore their lives through something more than just talking. I use a body-centered and arts-based approach so that you can dive deeper, break free from toxic cycles, and make meaningful change in your life. While I am an art therapist, art is not required for us to work together. You set the pace and I will meet you where you're at. I specialize in helping those with anxiety, life changes, relationship problems, trauma, cycle breaking, depression, & perinatal issues.

Dr. Payne's experience in a variety of settings (community mental health, therapeutic day school, and corrections settings) has provided them with the opportunities to work with a wide variety of clients including children, adolescents, adults, and families. Dr. Payne’s specialties include working with a variety of symptoms and presentations including but not limited to: depression and other mood disorders, anxiety symptoms, relational difficulties, Autistic or otherwise neurodiverse clients, people who identify as LGBTQIAA2S+, and those who have experienced trauma.

I have an appreciation for complexity and understand that most of us live a life full of contradictions - striving for goodness, happiness, prosperity, low drama, and quality relationships. I get to witness clients create a foundation of safety from which they can pursue their personal and relational goals. I have a passion for working with both traditional relationships and alternative lifestyle clients, as individuals or couples. My clients are often unraveling past traumatic and toxic relationships or simply navigating the unknown with the goals of creating new, healthy patterns of communication, safety, and intimacy.

I believe that safety, choice, empowerment, and collaboration are the foundation for a productive therapeutic experience. I am passionate about helping people from diverse cultures, ethnicities, and sexual orientations navigate relationships and addressing individual/interpersonal challenges related to trauma, racial and gender identity, self-esteem, social and cultural stress, family of origin, depression, anxiety, family dynamics, and life transitions.

Congratulations, as you have taken the first crucial step in furthering your counseling journey! I’m so proud of you and glad that you have decided to embark on finding a therapist that is right for you. If you are brand new to therapy or have experience in seeking behavioral health care, I am excited that you are here!

Being human is messy and the relationships we have with ourselves and others can often feel even messier. However, you, through your lived experiences, have a significant amount of important data about what is working for you versus what is not. Together we can use that data and determine what variables have been supportive as well as what elements may need a revised approach. Therapeutic work with me involves a deep respect for consent – you get to choose our direction, our focus, and where we are headed. I may gently steer us down a path, but ultimately you are the captain of our journey.

Do you find yourself needing a listening ear as you try your best to get through life's ups and downs? Or maybe you would like to revisit your past in a safe and calming space that makes you feel secure. Whatever the reason, everyone deserves to experience peace as they move forward in life. With time, genuine connection, and the hope that things can and will get better, transformation can begin. Welcome!

We're a trauma-informed, culturally-sensitive mental health counseling group for multicultural, Asian, BIPOC, immigrants, LGBTQIA+, and other marginalized communities. We're passionate about working with individuals, couples and families from different cultural backgrounds, exploring how complex identities and unique personal experiences have shaped us into who we are. We specialize in healing from anxiety, complex trauma, relationship issues, perinatal issues, ADHD, adoption, OCD, stress, cultural identity, cultural/intergenerational conflicts, family conflicts, grief, and other issues.

As a therapist and storyteller, I strongly believe that we are all the experts of our own stories. That being said, it can feel like someone else has taken up the pen during times of stress or emotional upheaval. Our stories aren’t linear and they don't exist in a vacuum; systems of power, privilege, and oppression, relationships, intersecting identities, and cultural values & norm can greatly affect the way in which we move through the world. My goal is to help you pick the pen back up, create a safe space for you to look at your experiences, and decide what role they will continue to play in your story.