Experiential Therapy in Chicago, IL

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.

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.

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.

Do you feel like no one truly knows you? Do you feel like if people knew the REAL you that you wouldn't be accepted or loved? Depression, shame, and anxiety are all common experiences as we reflect on our unwanted behavior, relational discord, past trauma, and family of origin. The motivation to change becomes all that much harder when you seek it out alone. You want to believe there is hope for a brighter day. Let's work together as we honor your resiliency and work towards healing because the question "what would you prefer?" is worth asking. You want to live a life of freedom. Let's boldly walk into that freedom together.

As a relational therapist, my aim is to support clients in striving towards safety, security, and authenticity – whether it is individually, as a family, or in romantic relationships. A focus of mine is dyads, where I help dissolve distance or conflict while building a base of emotional closeness. I also grew up as a “third culture kid” and have interest in supporting 1st or 2nd generation immigrants explore cultural attunement with themselves or their communities. Happy to address these areas: relational conflicts, attachment losses or ruptures, depression, anxiety, complex trauma, stress management.

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a M.S in Child Development & Family Studies, specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy, from Purdue University. I specialize in working with couples, parents and co-parents, families, teens and Adults. My systemic approach goes beyond the individual and addresses problems within the context of people's relationships and environment. I believe relationships form a key part of health & well-being and strive to help people work through/resolve their emotional injuries to achieve happiness & harmony internally (within one's self) and externally (in relationships).

I work with individuals, families, and couples, to help them build, strengthen, and heal their relationships. In more than 19 years of clinical practice, I have developed transformative ways to work with clients experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, and PTSD. I use a variety of techniques including Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR). I also help individuals who are facing life transitions, or who are experiencing difficulties in their partner relationships. I have experience with diverse family structures, and cross-cultural families and have lived extensively overseas, giving me a unique cultural perspective.

I believe you have everything you need within to resolve the issues and problems that disturb you and your relationships. I help people who have survived abuse, recent or early traumas, to diminish and remove blocks to living the life they want. I understand how anxiety, depression and recurring or intrusive thoughts or memories can leave you feeling undermined, depleted or confused, struggling to make meaning in your life.

How do we get through this conflict? Are we even compatible anymore? How can we have a relationship that is more fulfilling? How do we navigate this big change? As a relational therapist, I help couples and individuals address these common, sensitive questions. For clients who have decided to divorce, I help facilitate the process of separation and divorce. One of the things my past clients have appreciated about me is my extraordinary openness. I don't expect people to be a certain way, and I don't expect their relationships to take a certain form. Each relationship is as unique as the individuals in it.

Our quality of life improves dramatically as we learn to show up more authentically in our personal relationships. We can always cultivate more meaningful connections, whether in an intimate partnership, biological or chosen family, or friendships. I understand how creating change can feel daunting or overwhelming and is best navigated with intentionality and solid support. Actively collaborating with my clients, I ensure that together, we set clear and attainable goals and that each session moves you closer to achieving your vision. Change is Possible!

My approach to therapy is integrative and is relationally focused. My lens is existential and focused on finding meaning in what seems to be an increasingly chaotic, meaningless world of information overload, technology, climate change, and social unrest. I believe that mental health goes beyond alleviating symptoms and that we have the capacity to experience greater joy, creativity, meaning, and fulfilling relationships in life. I have interest and experience working with those who identify as LGBTQ+, first-generation college students, and issues of grief, trauma, burnout, loneliness, isolation, career and life transitions.

Hi! My name is Kathryn Johnson and I'm an LCSW with over 30 years of experience guiding individuals on their journey to healing and self-discovery. With a gentle and patient approach to care, I strive to create a nurturing space where clients can explore their thoughts, emotions, and challenges at their own pace. My therapeutic toolkit includes evidence-based practices such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Therapy, and Person-Centered Therapy. These approaches allow me to tailor our sessions to your unique needs, helping you navigate the complexities of life with practical tools and empathetic support.

Sometimes life can get rough. Relationships can feel disconnected or heavy with resentment and distrust. Sex and intimacy can get lost in the shuffle of every day. Babies can come along making life feel completely out of control. Through it all, maybe you feel like you just don’t have what it takes, or you feel stuck in cycles of worry, sadness or loneliness. Here’s the good news: CHANGE IS POSSIBLE. Better yet, you have within you what it takes to make it happen. Together through therapy we can work to identify, challenge and reimagine the undesirable aspects of your life and relationships, making space for something better.

Repeated behaviors and feelings show up in our lives and can get in the way of growth, healing, and positive relationships. As your therapist, I will help you connect the dots in your life story to reveal what may be keeping you ‘stuck’. I have seen how transformative it is when someone gains a bird’s-eye view of their life, and I consider it a privilege to play an active role in this process with you.

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 work from a client-centered lens and am passionate about working with individuals and relationships navigating: anxiety, depression, acute and complex trauma, relationship conflict and disconnection, communication issues, trust repair, sex and intimacy issues, identity exploration, unaddressed family of origin attachment wounds, inner child healing, and challenges with self-esteem and self-confidence. I attend to being a culturally competent therapist that considers the contexts and identities of my clients, and foster a therapeutic space that is identity-affirming, sex-positive, anti-racist, and polyamorous- and kink-friendly.