Therapists in Chicago, IL

We all deserve a safe space to be our authentic selves, where we can find support during the most intimate and vulnerable moments. I view our therapeutic relationship as a partnership and am here to work with you and honor your unique experience. As we work together, I aim to foster a judgment-free, safe space and empower you with the tools and skills to help you thrive. There is no problem too big or too small, and my role is to connect you with the answers, break relational patterns, and reacquaint you with your most authentic self.

It takes great courage to live out our authentic selves, find wisdom underneath our emotions, and repair and transform relationships that are close to heart. I admire your strength and humanity. As a counseling psychologist, researcher, and professor, I received doctoral and postdoctoral training in individual, couple, family, and group psychotherapy. As an immigrant, I witness life and culture in its nuances and complexities. I believe (and research shows) that, built upon a safe and trusting relationship, therapy can effectively support people to find clarity, authenticity, and resolution through the richness of our life journeys.

Relationships can be difficult. Whether it is familial, romantic or platonic, each of us is the sum of all the experiences, communities, and cultures we have been involved in and around our entire lives. We often struggle to understand how to effectively communicate, as well as making and keeping connections.

It is not always easy to reach out to a stranger for help, yet you know you are ready to make a change in your life. My focus is on helping clients by understanding systemic or external factors that may impact your relationship with yourself and others. With that understanding we then work together to use that understanding to influence how we treat ourselves and engage the world around us.

I support individuals, couples and families as they navigate grief and loss, anxiety and depression, identity exploration, sex and intimacy, and healing from trauma, both acute and complex. As a former doula, and childcare professional, I am both passionate, and experienced in supporting folks’ as they move through (in)fertility, pregnancy, birth, postpartum and parenting. I am especially passionate about working with couples. I am experienced in helping couples through high conflict or every day kerfluffles, deepening sexual and emotional intimacy and desire, navigating intercultural dynamics, and communication.

Led by compassion and curiosity, I see people, not problems. My practice style is client-led, culturally humble, trauma-informed, sex-positive, kink aware, LGBTQIA+ affirming, and social justice-oriented. I believe we live our best lives when we are seen, heard, and met with empathy, free of judgment. I work with clients to support a safe base from which to explore vulnerabilities, assess struggles, and process emotions. My clients hold the key to their own self-discovery, wellness, and balance and I am honored to walk this path with them.

I wonder if your life’s journey feels filled with twists and turns that manifest in countless ways. Perhaps you find yourself asking questions like, “Well, what now? Where to? How did I/we get here? How do I/we get there instead?”. Maybe your paths can seem never-ending, you experience unanticipated steep cliffs, and/or you revisit familiar, unfulfilling destinations. It's in these moments of struggle and feeling stuck that I ask clients to welcome me to support them. Where you have questions about the paths you experience and have not taken. When you are either upset or self-reflective. Let me help you figure out the next steps.

If you're here, you're probably looking for a change. Whether it's in your relationships, patterns, thoughts, feelings, or something else that's important to you. Life is full of challenges, but I firmly believe that people have fundamental inner-strengths that can help them cope. As a therapist, I warmly accept my clients as they are, and work alongside them to explore who they would like to become. I believe in the power of human connection, and strive to use that connection to help empower my clients to access their strengths; to ultimately bring about meaningful change, healing, growth, and understanding.

I work with adults, couples, adolescents and families around issues such as anxiety, depression, relationship issues, grief/loss, infertility and trauma. I have been trained in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT). My clients describe my approach as warm and supportive yet straightforward. My goal is to help clients better understand their past so they can make positive changes for their future. I believe in empowering my clients to live their best lives and tailor my approach to each individual or family. I truly love the work that I do and I believe that comes through to my clients in the work that we do together.

Having practiced psychotherapy and counseling for the past 20 years, I work to form an empathic relationship with clients and form a collaborative understanding of the difficulties that brought them to therapy, and how to best solve them. The goal is to find more satisfying relationships and fulfilling ways of being in the world. I work primarily from an Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) framework, although I have been trained in a variety of different psychotherapeutic methods. EFT is an empirically-supported approach that is flexible in that it allows the integration of other methods and techniques when necessary.

It's normal to have difficulty with communication in relationships from time to time. Couple's therapy can help you get unstuck. I teach mindfulness and Emotionally Focused Theory to help my clients get unstuck whenever they find themselves feeling blocked in their relationships. This can look like feeling anxiety when approaching certain topics, or a lack of trust in your partner's words and actions. Sessions include psycho-education, emotional processing, and structured exercises to support you in developing new ways to communicate.

As a relationship and sex therapist, I am dedicated to creating a safe, warm and positive space for processing to occur. I strive to enhance your strengths while guiding you to grow, heal and accept aspects of yourself. I believe the therapeutic journey is a collaborative process and I focus my interventions to meet your needs. Please do not hesitate to reach out for general mental health concerns if you think we would be a good fit despite my specialty. I welcome all genders, races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations and relationship configurations.

I specialize in identity development & life transition work, harm reduction for individuals with substance use issues, relationship issues, mood & anxiety challenges, and supporting individuals who have endured trauma. I am a kink and poly aware therapist who enjoys working with relationships. I relying on an Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) lens when working with relationship struggles. I am dedicated to serving Chicagoland’s LGBTQIA+ community and have a deep background in advocacy and direct service. I am especially dedicated to supporting TGNC individuals in the unique aspects of their journeys.

For the past 15+ years, I have had the pleasure of helping individuals and couples find relief from life's stressors. I work with a wide range of concerns and am especially effective with life transitions, depression, anxiety, relationship, LGBTQ, grief, and family stressors. I aim to provide a safe, supportive, confidential space to help you deepen your self-understanding, change problematic patterns, and enhance self-esteem. As a feminist and multicultural psychologist, I am also sensitive to the ways oppression and marginalization affect psychological wellbeing, and I welcome clients from diverse backgrounds and identities.

Do you feel disconnected, deal with infidelity, or poor communication? I help individuals and couples to develop some new skills and new ways to communicate and grow to create more satisfying relationships. I have completed Level 3 Clinical Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy and use Gottman Method in my work with couples. This method is designed to help teach specific tools to deepen friendship and intimacy in your relationship. I believe that although each individual is unique, everyone has the ability to change, heal and move forward. Therapy can help you to feel better and have a better relationship.

Having difficulty communicating effectively - We Can Help Having the same fight, over and over again - We Can Help. If you're looking for a safe space to repair, restore and revitalize your relationship - We Can HELP! In sessions you'll practice new relationship skills, gain a greater sense of self-acceptance and self-awareness as you begin to eliminate communication patterns interfering with trust and intimacy. Together we explore the roadblocks in your relationship while strengthening a path toward greater intimacy, communication and relationship satisfaction.

I believe that we all have the right to find safety, empowerment, and acceptance in our own lives and in the relationships we value. My work begins with genuine curiosity, and continues toward leading clients into creating their own meanings from lived experiences. Working together, we can build up self-advocacy and allow for self-love to flow through so that you may choose how to begin creating practices of care and support.

I believe that each client has a story to share, stemming from a diverse and unique background - and seek to hold clients in a safe, nurturing space that is truly their own. My conviction is that it is the relationship between the therapist and the client that is ultimately what heals, and when it works, it is immensely powerful. I am passionate about exploring ways to help clients discover their own resiliency and live more authentically in order to create the mental and emotional space to reach their fullest potential.

After training and working at universities across the country like Stanford, Emory, and Northwestern, effective therapy requires a few essential components: a strong therapist-client relationship, a supportive yet challenging environment, and a combination of skill-based and insight-oriented work. I work from an anti-oppressive, feminist framework to create a safe environment for understanding a person within their context and cultivating opportunities for exploration, insight, and healing to occur. I provide therapy for individuals and couples.