Therapists in Peoria County, IL

Are you in need of some support to help live a more fulfilling life? I am here for you. I have 13 years of experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, relationship issues, and depression. I will treat you with respect, sensitivity, and compassion. l will listen carefully to you and tailor a treatment plan to meet your unique and specific needs.

I have a passion for mental health and my goal is to help empower clients to find peace and healing during the most challenging times in life. I have a strong background in geriatric social work and experience with clients from a variety of cultural backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses. I collaborate with clients to develop goals to meet their specific needs and meet them where they're at, always going at the client's pace.

I am passionate about understanding the whole person and uncovering the different experiences and situations that make the person who they presently are; however, where you are or where you have been doesn’t have to be who you are. Together we can discover or even rediscover your passion and purpose. I strive to create an environment where you can be your true and authentic self, while encouraging continuous growth and development.

Our work with clients is meant to be supportive and comprehensive. Our work begins by learning about our clients, the situation, and their goals. We gather this information through listening and engaging our clients. We will then discuss practical next-steps that are relevant to each client's experience. Our services include psychotherapy and psychological testing. Our brief psychotherapy model seeks to help individuals, couples, and families flourish.

We provide a safe listening space for you to be heard and challenged. Being challenged is not meant to be a scary thing. It is an opportunity for you to grow and see the progress that you want to have in your life. We want our sessions to be a space where you can freely say something is wrong and not be fearful of our response. We applaud self-advocacy and we see you meeting with us as a space where you can practice what needs to be said and or addressed in other life situations. Once we come to an understanding of how the therapeutic process works and how it can be useful to you, we have created a fertile ground for growth.

Hello, I am Dr. Maria T Herrera, an immigrant, bilingual (English and Spanish), passionate, experienced LCSW with a diverse understanding of vulnerable populations in many settings. The therapeutic relationship is the best healing tool in therapy, and it is based on mutual honesty and trust. I hope to help you get to know and love yourself, the most challenging thing in life. When you find meaning in your life, your anxiety, depression, substance, food, shopping, abuse, etc. tend to improve. I aim to provide a safe holding environment for you without judgment of any kind, a place to be human.

Life can be undeniably difficult at times (increasingly so over the last few years). Sometimes, it becomes too much, and we need help to navigate and walk through those times and regulate those emotions/feelings. A need for a calm, confidential, non-judgmental space to express where you are and where you want to be. A place to find solutions, insight, and perspective. A place to learn some techniques to attain your desired health and life goals.

***ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS!*** I consider people to be the experts of their own lives. My role is to assist people by creating a safe and relaxed environment where they are able to grow trust and comfortably identify and work toward their goals. I am here to listen non-judgmentally, pose questions and ideas to foster positive changes to thinking and behavioral patterns, support the growth of healthy relationships, and assist in the improvement of daily functioning, emotional regulation, and the use of healthy coping mechanisms.

Feeling sad, drained, overwhelmed, or repeating the same behavior patterns and want things to change? Is your youth struggling emotionally or behaviorally and need additional support? Dealing with day-to-day struggles and/or past hurts can be emotionally taxing for you or your youth. It prevents us from being the person we want to be and live the life we want to live. The good news is you or your youth don’t have to navigate life’s complexities alone.

When people feel isolated or alone in their situation, they need someone else to help them gain a new perspective, feel differently, or at times escape the state at hand. My philosophy is to view therapy as if it were a "tune up" to help people keep operating through life. Just like cars need regular tune ups and oil changes to keep running smoothly, people also need regular check-ins and support for internal issues. This is especially important for people of color and minority populations because they face additional societal challenges (including microaggressions) that may or may not be overt but are often painful.

I have seen the positive healing effects of counseling not only in my personal life, but in the life of my clients. Everyone is unique and has their own highs and lows, and I love being with people when they are in both spaces. I want everyone that I work with to feel like they are understood, heard, and that they matter. I strive to be able to provide a space for everyone to grow into their best self.