Mitchell Hicks,PhD, ABPP

Mitchell Hicks,PhD, ABPP

Professions: Psychologist, Clinical Psychologist
License Status: I'm a licensed professional.
Primary Credential: Clinical Psychologist
Secondary Credential: Licensed Psychologist
Billing and Insurance:
I am an in-network provider for:
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS)
  • Medicare
Fees: If one is using insurance, than your portion is determined by your insurance benefits. My fees are otherwise $165 per session (after the first).

I do offer an initial phone consultation to discuss your concerns, answer questions, and for each of us to determine if we think we would work well together.
Free Initial Consultation
Evening Availability

Offices

3125-A N Wilke Road
Arlington Heights, Illinois 60004

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My Approach to Helping

"Why is it I keep doing these things that hurt myself and those I love?" Despite our best efforts, we often continue to use things like shopping, food, sex, or chasing that new relationship to make ourselves feel better - even though we know deep down that the relief does not last. No matter how hard we try, we just can't seem to get over blocks, control our angry outbursts, or get that big win. It's as if we keep getting in the way of ourselves. As a practicing psychologist, I am passionate about helping people develop new understandings, grieving that which was denied or taken from us, and finding ways to live that are unencumbered with these burdens.

More Info About My Practice

I am an in-network provider for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Preferred Provider Network (PPO; NOT the Blue Choice network offered through the ACA exchange) and Medicare. However, I recommend checking with your carrier to be sure that I am in network. For all others, I provide a written bill with all of the information required for you to obtain reimbursement from your insurance provider. Depending on the carrier, I may be able to submit a bill on your behalf as a courtesy. Although I can share with you the experiences of others who have used out of network benefits, I highly recommend checking with your insurance provider to get as much information as possible. It's best that neither of us is too surprised about your financial responsibility.

My View on the Purpose of Psychotherapy

The most obvious purpose of psychotherapy is to help you develop an understanding of what has caused and what maintains your suffering and to find relief. Yet good psychotherapy offers the promise of so much more, like finding the freedom to accept the good and the not-so-good in ourselves and entering into authentic relationship with others. It's not that we do not work to be better people, but we can tolerate our imperfections even as we strive to improve. Good psychotherapy is about finding or reclaiming meaning and invigorating passion. And it's about discovering that we no longer have to contort ourselves or deny our feelings or experiences in order to keep a relationship.

What I Say to People Concerned about the Therapy Process

I get it. There are plenty of very inaccurate caricatures of therapy in pop culture, and if you have never seen a therapist before then you are likely to draw on these things. Will he speak to me at all during the session? Will he make it all about sex? And of course, some have seen therapists that at best not a good match.

Let's talk about what I really do. In the first session, we will spend a few minutes talking about the paperwork so that we are on the same page about things like confidentiality and fees. After this, I like to spend the bulk of the remaining time having a conversation about what it is that is troubling you as well as about other parts of your life. Given the way I practice, I believe it is very important for me to understand you as a whole person in your life context: your home life and community growing up, as well as your important relationships with people such as your spouse or partner, children, parents, and friends. By the end of the first session, I want to be sure I have understood and heard you about what hurts and how you hope therapy will help you create a better and more meaningful life. After the first few sessions, we begin by exploring your real feelings, needs, and desires as well as how and why you've been masking them or setling for counterfeits.

Why Going to Therapy Does Not Mean You are Weak or Flawed

Many people see going to therapy as a sign of weakness, failure, or even punishment. But walking through the door of a therapist's office takes tremendous courage. It takes courage to be willing to allow ourselves to be so vulnerable with someone we've just met. It takes courage to admit that we cannot do it alone. And it takes resolve to stare ourselves down and finally try to come to terms with whatever demons grip us. It is a statement - "I no longer want to suffer, and I'm doing something about it."

My View on the Nature of 'Disorders'

If one wishes to use insurance, then labels are a necessary evil. A diagnosis says very little about who we are, what pains us, or what we need to help us feel better and find our way again. I've never met two people with "Major Depressive Disorder" or any other disorder that were the same. That said, some people find knowing that their concerns have a name to be of some comfort. I'm always willing to share my diagnosis - along with an explanation that it is simply a very surface-level description of what hurts.

Services I Provide

  • Clinical Supervision
  • Coaching
  • Consultation
  • Counseling for Offenders
  • Family Therapy
  • Individual Therapy & Counseling
  • Legal Documentation
  • Marriage, Couples, or Relationship Counseling
  • Premarital Counseling
  • Psychological Evaluation

Ages I Work With

  • Adults
  • Elders

Languages

  • English

Client Concerns I Treat

  • Abandonment
  • Abuse / Abuse Survivor Issues
  • Academic Concerns
  • Addictions and Compulsions
  • Adjusting to Change / Life Transitions
  • Aggression and Violence
  • Aging and Geriatric Issues
  • Anger
  • Anxiety
  • Attachment Issues
  • Bipolar
  • Blended Family Issues
  • Body Image
  • Breakup
  • Bullying
  • Career Choice
  • Caregiver Issues / Stress
  • Chronic Illness / Disability
  • Codependency / Dependency
  • Communication Problems
  • Compulsive Spending / Shopping
  • Control Issues
  • Creative Blocks
  • Depression
  • Dissociation
  • Divorce / Divorce Adjustment
  • Eating and Food Issues
  • Emotional Abuse
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Emotional Overwhelm
  • Emptiness
  • Family of Origin Issues
  • Family Problems
  • Fear
  • Fertility Issues
  • First Responders
  • Forgiveness
  • Grief, Loss, and Bereavement
  • Health / Illness / Medical Issues
  • Helplessness / Victimhood
  • Identity Issues
  • Inadequacy
  • Individuation
  • Infidelity / Affair Recovery
  • Internet Addiction
  • Irritability
  • Isolation
  • Jealousy
  • Life Purpose / Meaning / Inner-Guidance
  • Men's Issues
  • Midlife Crisis / Midlife Transition
  • Money and Financial Issues
  • Mood Swings / Mood Disturbance
  • Multicultural Concerns
  • Narcissism
  • Parenting
  • Perfectionism
  • Physical Abuse
  • Posttraumatic Stress / Trauma
  • Power
  • Pre-Marital Counseling
  • Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures
  • Psychosis
  • Rejection
  • Relationships and Marriage
  • Religious Issues
  • Schizophrenia
  • Self-Actualization
  • Self-Care
  • Self-Compassion
  • Self-Confidence
  • Self-Criticism
  • Self-Doubt
  • Self-Esteem
  • Self-Love
  • Sensitivity to Criticism
  • Sex Addiction
  • Sexual Assault / Abuse
  • Shame
  • Social Anxiety / Phobia
  • Somatization
  • Spirituality
  • Stress
  • Suspiciousness / Paranoia
  • Terminal Illness
  • Trust Issues
  • Values Clarification
  • Workplace Issues
  • Worry
  • Worthlessness
  • Young Adult Issues

Types of Therapy

  • Dreamwork
  • Existential Psychotherapy
  • Process Oriented Psychology
  • Psychoanalysis / Modern Psychoanalysis
  • Psychodynamic
  • Relational Psychotherapy
  • Self Psychology

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