Attachment-based Therapists in Evanston, IL

The key to our well-being is defining and developing a healthy relationship with ourselves and others. For over 20 years, I have worked with individuals and couples to establish therapeutic relationships based on safety, trust, and acceptance. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I’ve worked with a range of issues including anxiety, depression, loneliness, loss, relationship distress, and difficult life transitions. While formally trained in psychodynamic theory, my approach is flexible recognizing the unique needs and strengths of each individual.

We all have an elemental instinct to feel balance and contentment within ourselves. However, emotional distress borne of life stressors, trauma, and inner conflict often compromises our ability to access joy and live in harmony with our values. I work to create a relationship grounded in warmth and non-judgment that supports your sense of safety and experience of feeling heard. Together, we identify areas of focus and explore what carries the capacity to help you reconnect with yourself and your life in meaningful ways.

It's important that you find a therapist that is a right fit for you. I strive to create a safe holding environment where clients feel understood and encouraged to take their next step. I utilize a developmental framework and family systems approach, while viewing each client as a unique individual. I specialize in working with young children and families, providing individual, family, couples, and group treatment.

I respect that coming to therapy is a choice a client makes to do something good for themselves, and that it can be challenging to choose you, or to open up to someone new. Social work strongly believes in the autonomy of the client, and I believe people are the experts on themselves. As a therapist, I'm present to meet you where you are at and to help with what is most important to you. My personality is laid back, and as a therapist I feel I'm open minded, easy to talk to, and accepting. I enjoy supporting people in defining goals and taking steps to achieve them.

I am a relational psychotherapist specializing in the areas of trauma, childhood abuse and neglect, grief, loss, depression, anxiety, and relationship challenges. I believe in the ways authentic connection, reflective insight, and empathic accountability for self and others can be transformative. Within a clear and safe therapeutic relationship, I believe individuals can reclaim identity, cultivate life meaning, and form and sustain healthy relationships.

In therapy, you will have a private place to examine what troubles you, and you won't have to do it alone. I can help you explore your difficulties, come to understand yourself more fully and make changes in your daily life and relationships if that is what is needed. Many of the people I see in therapy are struggling with depression, anxiety, communication problems, loneliness, grief, and life transitions. I have seen individual adults and teens, couples and families move from feeling blocked, frustrated, depleted to a place of some resolution - finding adaptive solutions or greater sense of peace.

Lonny Levin is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Illinois. He has a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Northeastern Illinois University. Lonny approaches every client with warmth, empathy, compassion, and without judgment. He firmly believes in working collaboratively with clients to help find the style of therapy that works best for their personality. Lonny strives to provide a space where a person can feel safe to be their true self and trust him to help guide them through their struggles and successes.

There are times in our lives when we face problems that can overburden us with distress and discontent. These can include struggles with troubling moods and emotions such as depression, anxiety, anger and self-doubt; challenges navigating our roles and relationships as parents, partners and professionals; and difficulties adjusting to life-altering events such as a death, a divorce, or a major transition. I specialize in family-focused counseling aimed at helping children, adolescents, adults, and couples to address these concerns in ways that lead them to cope more skillfully, connect more positively, and live more hopefully.

Psychotherapy is an opportunity to look at your deepest fears and face them with the support of an experienced and trusted therapist. At the Healing Journey Psychotherapy, I am committed to work with you and support you through a style that is relational, inquisitive, compassionate and challenging. My areas of expertise include surviving sexual abuse, domestic violence, chronic pain and the after effects of traumatic experiences in relationships.

As your therapist, I seek to co-create a space in which you can show up as your authentic self in order to facilitate a deeper understanding of who you are. I know that choosing to engage in therapy is often both a courageous and vulnerable decision, making the therapeutic relationship fundamental to the entire experience. My therapeutic approach is rooted in empathy, building coping skills, self-exploration and awareness, and a justice framework. I believe that context always matters, and it is necessary to understand both the external and internal circumstances impacting your ability to thrive.

We all work hard to take care of ourselves and build positive relationships, but sometimes obstacles get in our way. For more than 20 years, I have worked with people to identify and remove those obstacles, so that they can lead fuller and more joyful lives. You may be derailed by the loss of a job or relationship; feel depressed and not know why, or struggle as a parent. I work with individuals, couples and families to pinpoint your concerns and work toward change. My emphasis is on building honest, open relationships and on using insight to fuel change.

I work with adults struggling with life transitions and those who are feeling stuck or hoping to create positive change in their lives. Some of my clinical areas of interest include mood troubles, anxiety, insomnia, trauma, relationships and career issues. I view therapy as a collaborative process where we work together to understand your goals, identify solutions, and establish healthier ways of coping. Growth and healing occurs by gaining insight into our thoughts, emotions, and behavior patterns. By providing a safe space to explore our internal lives, I support clients' journeys toward discovering their authentic selves.

In my practice, I prioritize creating an environment that feels safe, respectful, and warm for each person. My goals as a therapist are to establish an authentic connection, to be aware and supportive of individual and cultural differences, and to identify strengths that can serve as a foundation for healthy coping. To facilitate the growth you'd like to see, we'll discuss your aspirations and collaboratively set goals toward finding balance. A prospective client might recognize the need for support or change in their situation and be brave enough to take the next step in connecting.

My clinical work emphasizes the whole person by integrating the neurobiological, psychological, physical, social and spiritual aspects of life. My practice focuses on helping clients achieve a more centered, balanced life by giving them the tools needed to grow within life's challenges. I work with adults struggling with everyday life difficulties in relationships, depression, anxiety, unresolved issues from the past, trauma, loss and grief; couples who are working to improve their relationship skills in areas of communication, anger management, trust and intimacy; families challenged by the transitions, losses and letting goes unique to each family's life cycle.

I work with individuals, couples and families seeking to create safe, compassionate and non-judgmental relationships, helping them to increase emotional well-being and fulfillment. Clients discover how to address difficulties in a reflective and intentional way, to identify relationship patterns that cause a disconnection from self and others, and to understand the underlying causes of distress or tension. In this way, enduring change is possible and healthier relationships with self and others can be created. Many of my clients are seeking help with relationship, parenting, career, and stage of life concerns.

I believe a trusting and collaborative therapeutic relationship will help you increase self awareness, understanding and the acceptance needed to bring about positive change and growth. It is equally as important to focus on your strengths as it is to focus on the areas of your life you find to be challenging. Therapy provides an opportunity to learn more about yourself and better understand your life choices as well as assist you in better understanding your most important relationships, past and present.

Space in which someone begins to let go of the person they think they should be in order to become who they truly are is sacred space. It can also be a very hard space, and one that can be difficult to navigate alone. This is where I come in. I believe you are the expert when it comes to your life, and that you have everything you need to live your best life. What is perceived as brokenness is often just disconnection with ourselves and with others. My expertise is deep listening coupled with insight that helps you first to connect with your genuine self, and then to make authentic, lasting, and meaningful connections with others.