Therapists in Northfield, IL

As a relationship and sex therapist, I'm interested in creating a positive and welcoming space for processing your feelings and issues. Our work together is to enhance your resilience, support your healing process and increase self acceptance. The therapeutic journey is a shared process. Our collaboration will target interventions to meet your needs.

My advanced training in Marriage and Family Therapy and Sex Therapy provide me with the skills and experience necessary to help you meet your treatment goals. I strive to create a safe, non judgmental, compassionate context for clients to explore their struggles and maximize their growth potential. I work with individuals and couples with a range of presenting concerns, including, but not limited to: relationship distress, sexual functioning and satisfaction, lack of emotional and sexual intimacy, low sexual desire and/or pleasure and hypersexual behaviors ("sex addiction").

I am a sex therapist and licensed psychotherapist. Sexual health issues I address include: intimacy avoidance, low desire, shame and embarrassment, sexual trauma, negative body image, recovery from infidelity, open relationships, infertility, and performance issues. Other psychological issues I work with include: interpersonal conflicts, depression, bipolar, anxiety and thought disorders. Life circumstances that might bring you to call include: divorce, separation, breakups, life transitions: going away to college, entering the workforce, welcoming a child into the family, feeling stagnant or unsatisfied with a job or relationship.

I specialize in working with clients who are navigating parenthood; experiencing mismatched desires; rebuilding intimacy; recovering from breaches of trust; healing sexual shame; repairing after conflict; coping with painful sex; and grappling with communication issues. Clients describe me as warm, knowledgeable, direct, nonjudgmental, patient, and adaptable.

People enter into therapy for a variety of reasons such as; having experienced a recent or past trauma, struggling with anxiety, depression or a life altering event. Ultimately, we all want to feel better and live more productive lives. I believe that therapy is a collaborative endeavor which takes place in an open and non-judgmental environment. My role is to help clients gain a deeper understanding of themselves, what motivates their behaviors and how they can bring about the desired changes.

Through research, education and clinical services, The Family Institute at Northwestern University is one of the nation's leading relationship-based behavioral health organizations committed to strengthening and healing the whole family system by bringing together the right partners to support children, adults, couples and families across the lifespan. As researchers, educators and therapists, we work with our clients and PARTNER TO SEE CHANGE. By weaving together 175 therapists and therapists-in-training, we create a high quality, collaborative system of behavioral health care. One that gets results.

ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS across the U.S. (Psypact states). Life can get stressful and hard at times, so can navigating societal, work, and family issues especially if you’re a person of color, immigrant, child of immigrants or LGBTQIA. Life transitions also require us to accept change but sometimes that may be hard and we can feel “stuck”. My priority is to help you achieve YOUR goals in a way that resonates with who you are, your beliefs, and with your values. I have extensive years of clinical, research, and assessment experience and will provide evidence-based treatment in a supportive, accepting, and collaborative relationship.

People often search for a therapist when they feel like they've tried everything and it's just not working well enough. It can be hard to see a situation clearly when you've been immersed in it for so long. I help people to take a step back, so they can see things more objectively. Through psychotherapy, people can find internal strength and resources they didn't know were there. They can then start to see new perspectives, both of themselves and their situations, and can begin to make changes.

I believe one of the bravest things you can do is begin to understand your own story. I am passionate about guiding individuals through personal journeys toward mental and emotional well-being. I have experience working with individuals and groups focusing on issues like depression, anxiety, behavioral issues, relationship issues, self-esteem, stress, and grief.

Being heard, understood, supported and appreciated can make the difference in how we experience life. Whether it is individual counseling or relationship counseling you seek, we will work together to improve how you think and feel about yourself, your relationship(s) and therefore, your life. I will help guide you to express your feelings, your thoughts and most importantly, learn to take the actions required to achieve the positive outcomes you seek. Making real change is not easy, however, I believe, with assistance, we can achieve great things working together.

As a results oriented clinician, I welcome clients across the lifespan for individual, couples, and family therapy. My specialization is working with clients facing depression, trauma, grief and loss, infertility, self-esteem, mood and motivational challenges. My approach to psychotherapy is insight based integrated with other methods to meet the unique needs and goals of my clients. Additionally, my interests expand to family psychology, supporting clients through separation and divorce as well as parent-child therapeutic reintegration and reunification therapy.

As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I am extensively trained to work with individuals of every age and stage of development, along with additional specialized training for couples and families. I apply a systemic perspective and strength-based and resilience approach with clients, while blending evidence-based theory into practice. I work with life stage transitions, marital satisfaction and intimacy issues, high conflict, anxiety, depression, divorced or remarried or blended families, anger management, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, multi-cultural communication, stress management, family of origin issues, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma, spiritual development, and work/life balance.

Stories have always fascinated me. They have the power to move us emotionally, to educate and instruct, to entertain us, and to cultivate true compassion and empathy through the act of sharing a story with another. They are also a powerful vehicle for how we perceive, interpret, define and live our lives, yet sometimes it can be easy to forget that we can be the authors of our story, not just a character proceeding along some previously determined narrative.

My ideal style of therapy is suited to clients who believe that the relationship between therapist and client is paramount to the ability to change. I believe that change happens at the crossroads of challenge and non-judgement and this is the primary focus of my treatment- creating a safe environment in which clients believe they can present their issues and have them challenged in a supportive and non-judgemental way. I firmly believe that all clients have the ability to heal and grow regardless of personal, historical, professional and relational challenges.