Find a Therapist in Downers Grove, IL

I work from a humanistic perspective, incorporating a client-centered framework into my work with clients. However, I also strive to integrate interventions from other treatment modalities, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), as needed. My associates have specialties in marriage and family therapy and offer services in both English and Spanish. I value building a connection with my clients to establish a strong foundation for our time in therapy. In our first session, I will orient you to the therapy process and what to expect. I will offer options for how we can use our time in the session and make sure your presence is seen and your voice is heard as we decide which option feels comfortable for you. I will strive to better understand your experiences and will listen actively to develop as accurate an understanding as possible. We will then collaborate on goals that you can see yourself working toward and consider how we can tailor those goals to help you reach them as successfully as possible.

Don't settle for a generic drug and alcohol therapist. You deserve help that actually helps you feel happy again. (And, that's in-network with your insurance). The program at this Symetria clinic goes beyond traditional therapy to treat everything hiding behind the drugs or alcohol — all while still living at home! Treatment here helps you rebalance your brain, create healthy thought patterns and heal underlying issues (like trauma, anxiety, depression or family conflict). In addition to our therapy sessions, you have access to our physicans. They help with any physical symptoms, including detox, anti-craving medications like Vivitrol or medications like antidepressants. Or...stick with therapy only. It's your treatment (and we actually listen).

A therapist allows you to explore your identity and what that means to you in a safe space. You will speak your truth and learn to approach life using that knowledge that is uniquely you. I specialize in maternalperinatal mental health, life transitions, trauma, self-esteem, and mood disorders. I use an integrated and holistic approach that is client-centered and incorporates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), mindfulness, and motivational interviewing. In addition, I am trained in EMDR therapy and certified in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH). By providing compassion, empathy, and authenticity, I hope to support and empower you to start practicing self-love and acceptance. In an open and supportive environment, I will assist you in recognizing areas that may need to be addressed and give you the tools to make the changes. We will restore your confidence in your own abilities to lead a healthy, authentic, and fulfilling life.

Supervising since 2005, and a previous Director of Training with over 20 years of experience, we consider it a privilege to offer meaningful work to children, adolescents, adults, couples, parents, and families. Through a genuine caregiving, positive lens, we provide support to others. Through the relationship-oriented inner humanism approach, we offer an understanding of development across the lifespan. The care individuals receive is characterized by achieving an inner well-being and happiness that remains stable and conflict-free regardless of life obstacles, family changes, and daily ups and downs. Strengthen self-confidence, develop inner happiness, improve coping, anger management, decrease depression and anxiety, and mourn losses due to grief and life changes. Parent guidance and coaching to navigate early childhood and adolescent concerns; couples and family therapy to improve communication, conflict resolution, and intimacy. We welcome the opportunity to work with you, especially during these trying times. It is our pleasure to support you! We work through a culturally sensitive and socially aware lens. Please contact us with any questions you may have or for an initial free phone consultation.

My approach to healing is compassionate, down-to-earth, and client-led. I believe that therapy should feel safe, supportive, and free of judgment. I work to build strong, trusting relationships where you feel comfortable being your true self. Using a mix of evidence-based practices like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and mindfulness, I help clients navigate challenges such as anxiety, depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity (ADHD), and life transitions. I believe in starting where you are and walking beside you, offering insight, tools, and encouragement as you move toward growth, balance, and emotional well-being.

I strive to provide a compassionate and non-judgmental environment of encouragement and support and believe that therapy is not "one-size-fits-all". You deserve someone who listens to and supports who you are, and is focused on your unique needs and experiences. I am rooted in the belief that all people can benefit from therapy and that staying mentally healthy is a lifelong process.

Trauma-informed and humanistic: Develops a strong, safe therapeutic relationship to help people understand how past experiences, including cultural and systemic trauma, impact them. Focus on authentic self: A core goal is helping people find and recover their authentic selves. Relational and somatic: Uses reflective, relational therapy, combining top-down analysis with somatic (body) and emotional experiences.

If you are experiencing persistent anxiety, chronic worry and unease, or the fatigue of depression that diminishes your sense of the future, you are seeking help beyond skills and advice. The distress you feel may be connected to addiction, relationship ruptures, complex trauma, long-term burnout, or the aftermath of sudden life transitions— or even relates back to moments in your childhood. I offer virtual psychoanalytic sessions to individuals across Washington, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Georgia. We begin with the unconditional welcome to speak what feels most real for you—freely, gradually, and without censorship. Dreams, fantasies, passions, and memories. Crises, complaints, and those stagnating repetitions that always return. You are invited to read deeply into yourself and to voice the 'other scenes' that appear between the lines of daily experience. We will take what troubles you and opens its interior dimensions through the spoken encounter of each session. This depth-oriented approach calls into question the very causes of your distress. Over time, this sustained discovery gives rise to renewed energy and singular knowledge of oneself, making possibilities for desire to be woven into your life in creative ways. If you are ready to invest in lasting change and bring new choices within reach, contact me today.

My passion is to help you feel heard, understood, and hopeful about the possibility of change. Some of the clients I work with are looking for support through a difficult time, or a place to sort through confusion. Others are wanting help with new ways of thinking, feeling, and being. And still others are working to resolve past trauma. I try hard to provide the balance of validation and challenge that you need during each phase of our work together. In addition to basic cognitive behavioral interventions, I offer a mindfulness perspective to anyone who is open to it. This involves learning to be present in the moment (vs. spending a lot of time thinking about the past or future), learning to accept things that can't be changed, and practicing techniques that will help you feel more in charge of your emotions and your life. I also offer Somatic Experiencing, a mind/body approach. My approach to therapy is client-centered and collaborative. I strongly believe that everyone holds within themselves a core self that is healthy, fluid, strong and competent. One way of looking at therapy is to think of it as a way to work through and let go of the pain and other issues that obstruct your core self.

In the chaos of day-to-day life, we can forget how much our innate strengths can help us manage whatever turmoil we encounter. In therapy, we will work to help you recognize and build on your skills, strengths, and values so they can support you through some of your toughest situations. Together, we will work collaboratively toward meeting your goals and needs, helping make your life more comfortable and satisfying. I hope that each person who meets with me feels accepted, and I respect each individual’s culture, gender, race, religion, and sexual identity.

We are accepting new clients from ages 12 to 25 and work exclusively with teens and young adults. Our team is committed to helping individuals in achieving positive transformations and surmounting life's obstacles. Having accumulated 15+ years of experience, I have worked with a broad spectrum of individuals in many different settings, such as outpatient, residential, and inpatient care. Our proficiency lies in aiding individuals with co-occurring disorders, high levels of anxiety and depression, trauma, and mood disorders.

I work to develop a close, collaborative relationship within which we can identify and understand the causes of your reactions. We use this new understanding so you can move ahead in your life. Rather than just teaching skills, I believe that the relationship itself, the emotional bond that forms from a deep collaboration, engenders genuine, fundamental growth. For this to develop your therapist must be deeply thoughtful, respectful, collaborative and engaging. I actively work to create an environment in which you are free to explore your thoughts, reactions and feelings, examine them in a deeper context, and develop a greater sense of your wishes and needs. This experience naturally facilitates new possibilities and leads to your living a life that feels more full and meaningful.