Michelle Kukla, PsyD

The journey through life can be hard! However, with learning some life tools and skills to help you regulate your thoughts and feelings that journey can be made a lot easier. For over 15 years, I have enjoyed helping people in the private practice setting develop these tools to navigate life's journey more efficiently. My passion is to help empower people to thrive and find their resiliency regardless of the challenging circumstance they might be experiencing. I have advanced training in health psychology and thus work with individuals and families coping with medical illnesses such as diabetes, breast cancer, postpartum depression and IBS. Additionally, I also counsel adults and families with general mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, trauma, and attention difficulties. My warm and compassionate care create the perfect environment for growth while using strength-based and evidenced based treatment interventions. We all are aware of the importance of physical fitness and spend a lot of time getting physically fit. How about mental fitness? We are finding that people need to devote time to their emotional wellness too which can help us manage stress and life conflicts in healthier ways. Yes, mental fitness is just as important. So take some time to learn to develop some tools to promote emotional health for you.

Dr. Kukla is in-network with or accepts: * Blue CrossBlue Shield-PPO, Aetna & UHCUBH Additionally, Dr. Kukla is committed to volunteering and participates in a nationwide program called "Give an Hour." Dr. Kukla provides free counseling services to military personnel, veterans and military families that are coping with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her strong training background in trauma and neuropsychology make her the perfect fit to work with this unique population to help them cope with Military Sexual Trauma, PTSD, pre and post deployment difficulties, grief, and traumatic brain injury. Dr. Kukla is also the owner and founder of Healthy Living Counseling Center (HLCC) located in Palatine. HLCC provides mental health and counseling services to the northwest suburbs of Chicago. HLCC is a health consortium comprised of wellness professionals that are committed to helping empower people to healthy living. Dr. Kukla has also appeared in the media for her work with children, teens, and adults. In addition, her earlier research studying personality styles in violent offenders has been cited in other research studies. Dr. Kukla has a very diversified training background which has also allowed her to be an adjunct faculty member at Roosevelt University for a couple of years teaching undergraduate coursework in psychology. Please call me for a free consultation or click on my website at the left of this page for further information regarding my practice. I look forward to hearing from you and learning about your life journey and how we can work together to move you forward with strength and courage!