Therapists in Chicago, IL

Life is a journey that can be both beautiful and frightening. It can feel overwhelming navigating these ups and downs. Adjusting to the changing world while taking care of your mental health is challenging. Unconditional acceptance, compassion, and empathy drive my therapeutic style. Seeing people as complex individuals with unique cultural, spiritual, and psychological facets allows me to see the bigger picture so I can tailor therapy to your specific needs. Feeling comfortable and safe is essential so we can explore and better understand those frightening parts of life.

My name is Melissa Shanley and I am a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, and I am here to help. I graduated from Eastern Illinois University where I studied to earn my Master of Science in Clinical Counseling. I have years of experience working in and supervising community mental health centers, college settings, hospital settings, and as an outpatient therapist to all ages and populations. My professional interests include working with people who have experienced complex trauma/PTSD, family systems issues, and supporting people with attachment, anxiety, and mood disorders.

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.

I am a Counselor with a passion for supporting emerging adults as they wade through the complexities of today's world. I believe in a Person-centered, Humanistic approach to therapy, building therapeutic relationships based around trust and mutual respect, fostering an environment of non-judgement, positive regard, and authenticity. I assist my clients on their journey towards their goals. Working together, we will discover ways to spur your personal growth and foster a greater sense of fulfillment in your life, utilizing, expanding, and developing skills and abilities-including ones you might not even know you already have.

My hope is to cultivate a therapeutic environment that is authentic, empathetic, non-judgmental and filled with compassionate curiosity. I view therapy as a collaborative process that encourages personal growth, self-compassion, and empowerment in the areas that are important to you. As an art therapist, if interested, I can incorporate the art making process as a restorative tool to increase insight in nonverbal forms of expression while expanding your own imaginative capabilities. My desire is to provide a safe space to explore past experiences and traumas while creatively working towards healing and growth.

My purpose is to do work to create change that is sustainable. A change that has space for complexity, reparation, and relating through difference. I have a plan, an offering, and a vision that I want to share with others to improve their quality of life. I want to help those that struggle with and question whether what they are doing matters. As a psychotherapist, the goal is for my clients to tap into their own power to create a positive change for themselves, while also helping to create a world that praises the uniqueness of each person and where humility and compassion are a given.

Hello! My name is Brittany Matthews, and I look forward to assisting you in your wellness journey! I became a mental health professional because I enjoy helping people manage their problems, amplify their strengths, and expand their minds. I have assisted clients with grief, depression, addiction, anxiety, adjustment, adverse experiences, negative self-perceptions, cognitive distortions, interpersonal problems, communication difficulties, life dissatisfaction, and other everyday obstacles.

Hello and welcome! I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and Expressive Arts Therapist in Chicago, IL. My holistic framework and creative process supports the whole person improving physical, emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual well being. Combining Psychotherapy, Expressive Arts therapies and EMDR, I provide a safe, supportive and non-judgmental space to gently explore the underlying causes of symptoms, expand self-awareness, learn valuable coping skills, embrace self-compassion, connect the mind and body, and rewrite your past narrative. All of you is welcome here. Share your voice, speak your truth, take up space.

I am a Chicago native, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, and Art Therapist. I strive to help my clients be better able to cope with all of life’s challenges. Whether you are interested in talking or using creative art therapy techniques, I have over 15 years experience to guide you into the transformation you hope to achieve. If you are navigating difficulties in your complex life, dealing with Anxiety or Depression, processing trauma, coping with diagnosis like Cancer and ALS, or the loss of someone you love, I can help.

I specialize in working with sexual desire discrepancy and intimacy. Sexual desire discrepancy is when one person in a relationship wants sex more or differently than their partner(s). It is very common and occurs in otherwise happy and healthy relationships. Although common, desire discrepancy can lead to severe relational discord. Through a combination of psychosexual education, deep couple's work, and a compilation of the leading sexual desire discrepancy theories, I have designed a way of addressing desire discrepancy that offers you and your partner(s) a new way to be sexual together. It is not easy work, but it is rewarding.

My areas of expertise include relational concerns, anxiety/depression, emotion regulation, young-adult development and life transitions (moves, school/career, divorce/separation, etc.) Interpersonal difficulties with repetitive arguments, communication and messaging, lack of understanding, stonewalling/withdrawal, infidelity, difficulty navigating needs and expectations. Together we will identify patterns, stressors, the role of beliefs, goals and emotions in motivating behavior. Life comes with problems, and success is dependent on navigating the ups and downs.

I believe trusting relationships, creativity, and community are at the heart of inner peace. I offer you a compassionate, empathetic, playful, and non-judgmental space. Trauma influences life, the body, and brain in complex ways and therefore sometimes in therapy we need to talk, and sometimes we need to pause, move, or create. I am informed by attachment theory, psychodynamic approach, and embrace the relational element of healing. As a musician, and with music therapy training, I understand the regulatory power of art and invite you to integrate expressive elements. I offer music-centered and songwriting focused sessions.

Stephanie Liebl is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Registered Art Therapist. As an art therapist, Stephanie values being able to use creativity in her approach to working with clients. This can be literally using art supplies, but also helping clients look at their issues through different perspectives or experimenting with a variety of coping mechanisms. Stephanie also places a focus on building therapeutic rapport and creating a safe space for clients. She finds it is important to allow the client to work at their own pace to achieve their goals- no matter how long that takes.

I have been working with marginalized populations and people struggling with addictions for over a decade. Clients who benefit the most from my approach are those who often feel outcasted by their environment, misunderstood in their relationships, or limited in their career. Throughout sessions, you will be better equipped to resolve conflicts within yourself and with others, and feel more confident, and free. I've been working mainly with Latinos(as) and African Americans, but anyone who is willing to explore themselves will benefit greatly from this work.

To say that life is always smooth sailing would be the furthest thing from honest, but working to develop, explore, and establish yourself can help provide greater ease on your life's journey. Exploring your holistic identity, my treatment approach uses mindfulness practices and art making to connect you to your mind and body. I have experience working across the lifespan with individuals dealing with anxiety, depression, life transitions, self-esteem, trauma, self-identity, and learning disabilities. Our minds and our bodies are intertwined to create a unique whole being.

Have you been struggling to find a safe place to share your experience and feelings? Approaching change can be a vulnerable process, finding someone to engage in that process with can be even harder. I am here to walk along side you as you explore your experience with shame, trauma, perfectionism, abuse, anxiety, depression, identity, parenting, sexuality, attention and concentration difficulties, relationship challenges, grief, and your emotional experience. I aim to do so while maintaining my own cultural competency and acknowledging the larger systems of power and oppression within our society and their impact on our experience.

You may be feeling unhappy, like you need to figure some things out and are wondering what you’re going to do. This worry could leave you feeling stressed and afraid to move forward, possibly even getting tired of dealing with a bunch of conflicting thoughts. You might be wishing things could get better, but you don’t know where to start. You don’t know how to fix it, you just know you can’t live like this and can’t keep doing things the same way. You deserve happiness and can learn to have trust in yourself.

Clients come to me and receive compassionate care without negative judgment as a means to make meaning of the events of their lives. That new understanding, gained in a supportive coaching relationship with the therapist, becomes the foundation for positive change. Open and self-aware clients tend to want validation of their thoughts and challenges to what hasn't worked. Skeptical clients tend to desire safety and assurance that someone is on their side. Regardless of the category, clients tend to get what they need from one session to the next.

The step to enter into counseling is a courageous one, it encompasses your willingness to connect, to be vulnerable, and to seek hope in healing. I see counseling as a way for clients to make change, to liberate one’s self from patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving that may not be serving you effectively. These patterns are often imposed by society, family, and ones' own culture and/or gender. Counseling is a space to help navigate all that comes with life’s changes. In practice, I specialize in anxiety, depression, grief/loss, OCD, infertility, postpartum, relationships, job change/loss, and other adjustment related stressors.