In Person Therapists in South Loop, Chicago, IL

I specialize in seeing adolescents and young adults who are experiencing a variety of life stressors. These can include anxiety, depression, and life transitions.

Phoenix Rising Counseling and Guidance, LLC is a holistic practice built on the premise of helping individuals like you to recognize your strengths and potential and rise up from the ashes that have negatively impacted your life. We strive to combine the treatment of mental health with mindfulness and spirituality. We believe that everyone has the tools and the innate ability to change their external world by working through the blockages, thought perceptions and cloud of their internal world.

Whether you are coping with a transition, anxiety, depression, or other challenges, I can work with you to increase positive healthy behaviors, reduce stress, improve your mood, and enhance communication skills. I am passionate about helping you find opportunities to learn and grow from every experience, even a negative one. Operating from a strength-based perspective, I help you understand and process your experiences, as well as cope with life events outside of therapy.

Grief, loss, and change challenge us to renegotiate – in our bodies, in our thoughts – earlier and similar transformations in our lives, stirring up difficult emotions, thoughts, images, and bodily experiences. In our work together, I will attend with integrity to whatever expressions of body, mind, and heart that arise. In this work that requires patience of us both, I will help you to discover and connect the elements of your own unconscious, history, desires, associations, leading to a genuine – even transformative – development of your own psychological, spiritual, and embodied personal narrative.

I am a licensed Psychologist and Executive Coach with over 30 years of clinical and workplace experience. I work collaboratively with individuals, couples and business leaders to develop and achieve personalized goals and strategic plans for maximizing growth and personal well being. I am empathic by nature and when combined with my analytical thinking style and strong relationship skills, I am able to quickly establish rapport with clients and successfully motivate and support them through difficult life transitions and challenges. I am experienced and comfortable working both in the office and over the telephone with clients.

The start of therapy is often a painful or stressful time. I will work with you to improve your current life and increase your future resilience. I believe the foundation of this work is often the experience of being truly heard. There are stories behind the things we do and the feelings we have. We usually know parts of these stories, but therapy helps us to know more. As we come to know more, we gain more control, and it becomes easier to meet life’s challenges. Additionally, we become better at seeing people and situations for what they really are, which helps us to avoid ruts at work and in our relationships.

Many people struggle with feeling lost and directionless or anxious about their ability to cope with life on life’s terms. For some people, these feelings can linger and become the painful lens through which you see yourself and the world. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With care and support, you can become more confident and loving toward yourself. You might even wake up one day and realize that instead of needing to read the instructional manual for life, you are ready to write your own. However, you might need some rough drafts and edits first. That is where therapy comes in.

I am a psychotherapist at Working Sobriety, a small group practice, specializing in emerging adults (ages 18-30) and adults who struggle with alcohol or marijuana dependencies. Whether you are questioning if you have a dependency, or grappling with addiction – your own or others’ – I can help you navigate this process. Together we would identify and explore any one of these issues: whether it is working towards sobriety, resolving your own question about if you have an addiction, or helping you with adaptive strategies when in a relationship with someone who has an addiction.

As your therapist, I can help you find inner peace, stability, and joy in life if you are someone who struggles with anxiety, depression, identity formation, stress, or life transitions, forming connections in school, relationships, or work. Life can be hard when we encounter feelings and situations that prevent us from growing. Making the changes you want to incorporate into your life can be difficult. Therapy is a process. You have taken the most difficult first step in your journey so far; you have decided to ask for guidance.

Mental health is a reflection of both our past and present experiences. These experiences accumulate and influence self-perception, relationships, and our interaction with the world. Through psychotherapy, we can examine how life events have shaped the way we think, feel, and respond to stress. I believe that psychotherapy is a collaborative experience between therapist and client and look to develop a safe and trusting relationship with my clients. Through this approach, we explore the purpose behind behaviors and ways of thinking which negatively impact the quality of one's life.

I wonder if your life’s journey feels filled with twists and turns that manifest in countless ways. Perhaps you find yourself asking questions like, “Well, what now? Where to? How did I/we get here? How do I/we get there instead?”. Maybe your paths can seem never-ending, you experience unanticipated steep cliffs, and/or you revisit familiar, unfulfilling destinations. It's in these moments of struggle and feeling stuck that I ask clients to welcome me to support them. Where you have questions about the paths you experience and have not taken. When you are either upset or self-reflective. Let me help you figure out the next steps.

I specialize in working with individuals and couples to address relational issues, marital conflict, infidelity, dating and breakups. I also specialize in working with individuals with complex family dynamics and trauma. I am an immigrant raised in Mexico and I migrated to the USA when I was a teen. I am bilingual in English and Spanish and I have mastered Spanglish throughout the years!

I have extensive experience working with individuals of all ages, as well as couples, who are interested in bridging the space between where they are and where they want to be. I do this by using my specialized skills as a clinical psychologist, and also by bringing a holistic lens to the work. I want to meet you where you are emotionally, mentally, and behaviorally. My goal is to provide a space where you can develop the coping skills and resources that you'll need to be successful -- however you define success -- in your everyday life.

You might be feeling trapped, confused, or disoriented. You might be looking for some way out of a place that you are unsure of how you got there. You might be thinking why is it like this or why am I like this? These questions and conditions may feel lonely and you are looking for someone to talk to who will just get it. I'm here to help.

Our past can impact how we navigate the present. In my opinion, understanding our experiences can lead to healing and transformation. My priority is creating an open and safe space where you can freely explore those vulnerabilities. This is a space where you can vent, laugh, and make greater meaning out of your experiences. I use a strength-based approach to empower you to be your most authentic self. This approach can include times of humor and times when I challenge you. I believe the therapeutic relationship is integral to exploring uncomfortable emotions and relationship dynamics.

Anxiety does not have to control your life and leave you feeling stuck. I am passionate about empowering individuals to harness their inner resources and achieve their goals, one step at a time. My therapeutic style is kind and warm yet firmly supportive. I blend compassion and understanding with gentle encouragement to help my clients push through their fears. Together we use teamwork, and humor, to decrease distress and enhance daily functioning.

We live in a world of information explosion. You could google everything online and learn something about it. Meanwhile, I believe there is a reason that you are seeking therapy. My role as a therapist is to meet you where you are—maybe you sense something is going on in your life and you have an idea about what to do next, maybe you are curious about some patterns in your life and you would like to explore them, maybe you are struggling and you just want to try anything to feel better… I would work collaboratively with you toward where you want to go. I hope to be your ally, standing firmly with you and prioritizing your benefits.

Many people turn to psychotherapy for help with anxiety, depression, painful relationship patterns, or sometimes just the feeling that something is missing from life. If you struggle with anxious or depressive feelings, or with frustrating relationship patterns, then I would recommend that you consider a free phone consultation. It might help to know that, with motivation, many people can make progress immediately towards overcoming internal roadblocks and becoming more effective in their work and relationships.

I am passionate about working with individuals who are dedicating time to their personal development and addressing their challenges. My ideal clients are open to growth and are interested in learning more about themselves. They are ready to confront challenges and learn from the past to improve their futures, and they are committed to the therapy process just as much as I am. Whether we are using EMDR to address trauma or setting goals related to substance use, my ideal clients are ready to work hard to heal, learn, and grow.