Family Therapy in Edgewater, Chicago, IL

I believe that therapy is most successful when there is mutual respect and trust between the therapist and client. I have successfully worked with families, teens, and adults from diverse sexual orientations, ethnicities, cultures, and religious backgrounds. Some of my clinical specialties include couples/family conflict, social and cultural stressors, anxiety, depression, trauma, and meaning making.

I believe that the relationship formed between therapist and client is at the core of therapy; it is my privilege and responsibility to listen to my clients' experiences with respect and without judgment. I collaborate with my clients to help them trust their voice, honor their inner wisdom, strengthen their personal insight, listen to their bodies, access their story, bring meaning to their past experiences, and find hope for the future. Before becoming a psychotherapist I taught therapeutic dance to people of all ages.

Does it feel like you don’t quite fit in these hectic, demanding times? With 20 years of experience as an art therapist, I am here to help you in your healing journey through both talk and art therapy. I specialize in working with neurodiversity, queerness, anxiety, ADHD, autism, and depression with all ages in individual, couples, and family therapy. A deep and compassionate listener, I come to therapy with an open heart and a focus on you, in all your unique and intersecting identities. As a neurodivergent ceramic artist and photographer, I understand the joys and challenges of navigating the world being different from the norm.

**How many cookies are too many at once? Am I a bad parent, or have a bad kid? Am I too much for people? Not enough? Why don’t other people have these problems? I can’t deal with this anymore. Why aren’t I better yet? Why do people say I need a therapist? I don’t want someone telling me how to live. I’ve done/been through things no one can ever know.** Whether within ourselves, or from peer/romantic/family relationships, we may experience increasingly uncomfortable thoughts/feelings/actions. And, whether sometimes or constant, "what's wrong with me" and "how/when will it be better" may become the most uncomfortable thoughts to hold.

I firmly believe in our capacity to make the choices necessary in order to live our lives fully and authentically, meeting life on life's terms. It is an act of courage to seek help when life's terms seem different than our own. Together we create the space for you to strengthen existing skills and develop new ones to achieve purpose, meaning, and contentment in your life and relationships. I believe in collaboration, respect, and humor to promote insight and change. We will create a safe environment in which you can feel empowered to enact the changes you desire.

Suffering is often the result of less than nurturing relationships and experiences. Fear can become imprisoned in the body. Family and culture can dictate how safe it is, or not safe, to express and be yourself. My immigrant experience from Taiwan allows me deeper empathy with people navigating life transitions and relating to different cultures and new relationships. At Embodied Way Psychotherapy PLLC, I strive to empower individuals within the context of systemic injustice and complications. My work is to provide compassion and wisdom so that you can feel fully alive and authentic in your body, your world and your relationships.

Becoming a parent is one of the most transformative journeys a person will experience. For some it can be a time for self awareness, reflection and deepening of relationships. For others it may be a time filled with anxiety, fear and distress. After baby arrives the family will be in a time of transition, navigating new roles and how to care for and attune to baby. I am passionate about supporting parents and their babies to navigate the crucial time period.

You deserve to feel better and to see real benefits from therapy. Oftentimes we are looking for insight and tools to help us feel better, but we’re not sure where to look or what to try. Feeling disconnected to yourself or others, worrying too much, feeling stuck or avoiding certain aspects of life can be common experiences but they don’t have to define our lives. Together we will assess your concerns and develop a tailored plan that will help improve your quality of life and yield lasting change.

My approach to therapy is collaborative, whether you come in alone, with a partner, or with your family. Together we explore your therapeutic goals. I firmly believe in the power of relationships to foster resilience and healing. In my work, I strive to cultivate connection and curiosity in an active, direct, and compassionate manner as you explore life's challenges -- deepening your understanding of yourself and learning to connect more meaningfully with others.

I am passionate about taking time to consider the overall well-being of my clients and strive to empower my clients to manage symptoms and live their fullest life possible. Let's talk about what goals you have in mind and how we can work toward those goals. Your therapy is your time - we can cater sessions to your needs and what feels most important to work on. I have helped clients reach positive outcomes using a mix of insight building, solution and strength focused interventions in practice.

Are you struggling to connect with others or feel alone? Perhaps this leads to frustration or alienation. Or maybe you find yourself frequently putting others' needs above your own, to the point where you feel run-down and emotionally exhausted. You may be facing a major life change or decision, either for yourself or for your family. In these situations, it can be challenging to tap into your own thoughts or cope with overwhelming emotions. It can be hard to know where to start, but you don't have to do it on your own!

Are you someone experiencing anxiety, struggling to set boundaries, coping with an adjustment, and/or dealing with complex trauma? It can be hard to move forward from feeling like you are alone. I am here to support individuals wanting to achieve their goals and feel empowered. I cultivate a non-judgmental environment where you can feel like you can be yourself and feel safe. I work from a collaborative approach where we will work together to find the best individualized path for you and what you would like to achieve.

I am passionate about supporting individuals and families through their unique journeys with warmth, authenticity, and creativity. I believe in blending humor, play, and real connections to help my clients achieve their goals. I work with people across all ages, backgrounds, and identities, with a special focus on helping those who have experienced complex trauma and attachment wounds. Alongside this work, I'm also passionate about helping individuals explore their identities, and supporting parents and caregivers as they navigate caring for others while still showing themselves the same kindness.

Are you exhausted from the relentless pursuit of perfection, always feeling like you fall short no matter how hard you try? Do loved ones tell you "you're too hard on yourself!" and you don't buy it? Do you often find yourself overwhelmed by the fear of conflict or letting others down, sacrificing your own happiness and peace of mind in the process? If these struggles resonate with you, you're not alone. I've helped many folks, often women, who identify as people-pleasers, approval-seekers, and perfectionists, and experience these challenges on a daily basis, feeling trapped in a cycle of self-doubt, constant striving, and burn out.

Most of my clients identify as LGBTQ and I have a special interest in working with this population, but I welcome anyone to my practice who wants to disentangle longstanding problems, understand themselves more deeply, and feel more alive. While symptoms of depression, anxiety, or distraction signal that something is wrong, most of the issues people bring to therapy are complex and woven into the fabric of their lives, family histories, relationships, and communities. For this reason I work primarily within a psychodynamic framework, which is most effective in facilitating deep, lasting change compared to other forms of therapy.

Individuals who are experiencing mental, emotional, or psychological discomfort are often offered temporary solutions or trending advice from family, friends, social media, or elsewhere. Though some of this information might prove to be useful, I believe psychotherapy provides a personalized journey towards understanding and learning to cope with psychological distress.

As a leader in the neurodiversity movement, I have dedicated my work as a therapist, educator, speaker, supervisor, business owner, and writer to support major shifts in conceptualizing mental health and create lasting change for neurodivergent folks. I specialize in working with clients who are exploring ADHD, AuDHD, autism, race, creativity, artistic identity, queerness, executive functioning, and relationships through individual, couples, and family therapy. I lead with authenticity and a unique focus on language that helps my clients design a life that reflects their unique wants, interests, desires, goals, and identities.

I approach clinical work from a relational and attachment-focused perspective. I believe that humans heal and change in relationship to others, and that our connection is paramount for us to be able to do meaningful and long-lasting work. My understanding of the world is also inherently systemic, such that each individual’s intersectional identities, as well as larger systems (e.g., family system, cultural groups and values, larger systems of oppression such as racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, sizeism), should be made explicit and honored in each session.

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.