Therapists in Forest Park, IL

Adult life is complex, full of many responsibilities and accompanying stressors. Difficulties balancing work and home, communicating with others, tensions between relationships and personal goals and achievements. These complex feelings can lead to anxiety, depression, and feeling overwhelmed. I work with adults in all career settings and relationships, as well as with young adults transitioning from adolescence to college and navigating steep life changes. Together we will examine your early life experiences for insight into who you are and to shape your personal values toward realizing contentment.

Trauma can make you feel like someone has robbed you of your innocence, purpose, sense of belonging, your voice, and ability to feel safe in your own body. You might be searching for a sense of control, but feeling completely powerless. You escape into activities or relationships in order to feel anything at all and other times to make the feelings stop all together. You may have developed parts of yourself in order to survive, but what would life look like if you could shed old scripts and truly live a life that’s worth living?

The majority of my training and work experience has specifically focused on the assessment and treatment of psychological trauma. I believe my job is to walk alongside my clients as they unpack their traumatic experiences, while providing continued safety and validation, all at their own pace. I have extensive experience in evidence based treatments for PTSD and have been successful in treating a wide variety of individuals. I have also completed specialized training in maternal mental health. I treat women dealing with mental health issues that come up during and after pregnancy, such as anxiety, depression, and OCD. I also help women navigate pregnancy loss, infertility, and traumatic births. As a mother myself, I am passionate about working with other mothers struggling with mental health issues related to pregnancy or the postpartum period.

My specialty is providing therapeutic services to children and adults. I utilize a client centered approach to join with my clients in the therapeutic process and offer gentle, non-judgmental support through the journey of therapy. I meet you where you are.

You've always been a high achiever, but lately you're struggling to cope. Your to-do list is piling up, but you can't seem to accomplish things. You feel bogged down by "shoulds and have-to's." You want to do things "the right way," but feel unsure of yourself. Others see you as capable, but you worry they don't see the real you.

Now Accepting new clients (daytime hours 12pm-5pm). As humans, we experience an endless amount of transitions, highs, and lows that cumulatively come to define who we are. In this process, we may find ourselves struggling with anxiety, depression, and fear of the unknown. In an effort to cope with these challenges, we often develop patterns of thinking and behaving that don't serve us or honor our unique strengths and resiliency. In my practice, I work with individuals to create meaning from difficult experiences and to develop coping strategies that allow them to live with a greater sense of peace, personal power, and authenticity.

Even the strongest people need a little bit of help to work through some of life’s more challenging problems. Everyone has hurdles to overcome, and we’d love to help you along the way. You might be initially hesitant to seek out help and support, but when you do, you will feel confident that you are taking a courageous first step towards getting to a better place and being a better you. Here at The Essence of Healing LLC, we realize that no two people are the same, and we tailor our therapy to meet your specific needs as an individual.