Experiential Therapy in Chicago, IL

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.

Louise is dedicated to renewing lives and supporting the recovery of those struggling with chronic stress, anxiety, depression, relationship challenges, low self-worth and trauma. Louise strives to enhance an individual's quality of life and relationship with self, understanding that when met with adequate support, we can all find healing and fulfillment in life. Louise utilizes an integrative therapeutic approach, including Insight Oriented Therapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Attachment-Based Theory, Experiential Therapy, Mindfulness, Somatic Experiencing, Psycho-Education and EMDR Therapy.

My passion lies in working with adolescents and young adults dealing with self-esteem challenges, self-harm, disordered eating, and substance abuse. Additionally, I am deeply interested in guiding individuals through various topics, including ethical non-monogamy/polyamory, divorce, uncoupling, infidelity, betrayal, sexual trauma, grief, anxiety, depression, boundary setting, transitions, and family dynamics. Through compassionate counseling, I aim to empower clients to lead fulfilling lives and cultivate healthier, more meaningful relationships.

Finding the right therapist is essential in one's journey toward overcoming obstacles. I believe counseling is a collaborative and creative process where we join together to establish the change you desire. I utilize a direct, honest, and genuine communication style in our relationship. My approach combines psychotherapy and the use of experiential therapy as a means of building communication, trust, and decision-making through individual and family treatment. My treatment also involves the partnership of animal assisted therapy with my Labrador Retriever.

Are you navigating the challenges of addiction, trauma, depression, or low self-esteem? I specialize in working with adults facing these interconnected experiences and I’m here to help you. Together, we will work towards understanding the underlying factors that caused these challenges to arise, developing coping strategies, and fostering a path towards healing and resilience. I am committed to supporting you on your journey toward positive change. Your well-being is at the forefront of our collaborative work, and I look forward to assisting you in achieving a more balanced and fulfilling life.

Have you ever felt like you’re sinking into quicksand while grappling with the weight of depression and anxiety? If so, I am here to partner with you by offering a lifeline through the turbulent terrain of the mind. Not only will I serve as your therapist, I will also be a passionate guide on a mission to help pull you out of the quicksand and on to solid ground.

We face struggles in life and through introspection, humor, and meaningful support, we persevere. From the development and focus on our individual strengths and resources, we gain the momentum to overcome. I will work in tandem with you; I will support you in recognizing your potential, and I will help you to understand and gradually overcome the adversities that you may face. It will be an honor to be your guide, assisting you in both setting and accomplishing your established goals.

My philosophy of care is grounded in the notion that every person has a gift within themselves. People do not need to be fixed; they need support to be able to return to their core self. I am here to support you whether you are going through a transition, dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, or other mental health challenges. Please consider reaching out if you want to make meaning of your life, use difficulty as an opportunity to grow, and/or you are someone deeply committed to improving society. I am here to provide a place to process, balance, and develop.

Your voice is stronger and louder than you believe, and I believe that every being has an untold story waiting to be heard, understood, and held with honor. We are often given the systemic message that our voices do not matter, that our stories will be outlived, or that our mental health (a.k.a. our feels) are not as important as our physical health. That is not your truth, or mine. Therapy can help you find your voice (or whatever medium works for you) so that you may continue to grow stronger, louder, and be more unapologetically YOU.

If you are someone who seeks to connect with your authentic yes and no, to feel at home in your skin, to trust your internal metric, and to get to the root of what is hurting, somatic therapy may be a good fit for you. I love working with folks who are interested in the deep work, getting out of their minds and into their bodies to reconnect with the innate healing capacity we all carry within us. Our body holds the story of everything that has ever happened to us, and together you and I can work to develop internal safety and connection so that you can own your story and write a new one for your future.

Life, though beautiful, is also marked by all sorts of suffering, and my job is to help you heal and grow from that. I am an attachment and trauma-informed Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), who works with individuals, families, and couples, to address communication; couple and family conflict; relational and attachment trauma; infidelity; family of origin issues; self-development and identity; PTSD; depression; anxiety; and a host of other problems that arise in life.

My clients want to make changes in their lives. They believe that healing is possible for both body and mind. When they feel safe enough, they bravely share the old stories about themselves and the no-longer-helpful ways of dealing with the world that kept them feeling sick or stuck. They keep showing up when the going gets rough, because they’ve seen for themselves that they can trust the process, and they’re willing to keep working it until it works, one day at a time.

As an MA, LPC, I help individuals explore their thoughts, feelings and behavior to reach a more clear self-understanding and change long-standing patterns of behavior that may be disrupting relationships, work and study. The nonjudgemental and accepting nature of clinical mental health counseling makes it possible to face painful experiences. My client utilizes their capacity to change, seeking mental clarity, presence and balance. As a professional counselor I will work within clearly contracted, ethical boundaries, with respect for my clients, their values, their beliefs, their culture, to explore and resolve life difficulties.

Do things in your life not seem to be working anymore? Are you feeling more disconnected, down and isolated, and unwilling to engage in the things you used to enjoy? Or are you feeling so anxious about life that it no longer seems manageable? Maybe you're drinking more, eating less (or more), or finding it difficult to get out of bed. Perhaps you find the meaningful relationships in your life lacking. Sometimes life throws us curveballs that we don't believe we can recover from. And you know what? That's okay. Because you can get through this.

I help women and men who are hurting, angry, and struggling to find their way through life's challenges, to create real and lasting change. Maybe you find it difficult to reach out for help or feel you should be able to manage your own problems, but I know it can be frustrating and demoralizing when real change remains elusive. I will work with you to more fully understand the roots of the issues at hand and collaboratively find resolution and greater freedom.

I am aware the path to healing can be a bumpy and uncomfortable one. I provide a compassionate and empathetic approach to this healing process. My approach looks at our internal wounds that left untreated, continue to cause pain. I like to ask, in the words of Dr. Gabor Mate’, ‘why the pain, not why the addiction?' We know using a substance or behavior is how we cope with the pain that feels unmanageable. Our pain, ‘dis-ease’, and dis-comfort often stems from unresolved grief & loss and are the result of 'what happened to us'. Let's look at what happened to us instead of what is wrong with us. I believe this approach decreases shame

I help children and adolescents feel seen and understood while providing a safe space for them where we work together through obstacles in their life. My goal is to help them overcome different obstacles in their lives and help them develop skills to help them move forward. I want to provide for them a safe space in therapy where they can express themselves freely and grow. I believe every person is unique and should be treated as such, my therapeutic approach is more humanistic, seeing the person for who they are and working collaboratively to help meet their needs.

Our life's work is helping clients achieve a better sense of self and happiness...more recently we've recognized that without good mental health providers, finding this balance in life can be more difficult and stressful. As a result, we tend toward an Integrative approach and help our clients transform into the people they want to be. We see each client as an individual with many parts to their identity. Utilizing a holistic and systemic approach we help clients reintegrate the parts of themselves to function better as individuals and within their systems. Our focus tends toward a systems based approach using behavior methods.

As a clinical supervisor, my goal is to provide high-quality support and guidance to mental health providers. Clinicians are often overworked and under-supported. I provide empathy and collaboration to mental health providers as they navigate clinical issues and develop their personal intervention style. Supervision and consultation is based on individual needs and interests but typically encompass clinical questions and concerns, case consultation, navigating work settings and structures, best practices in service delivery and self care and burnout prevention.