Obsessive-Compulsive (OCD) Therapists in Franklin Park, IL

I am a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) specializing in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, and OCD in adolescents and young adults. After establishing a trusting and collaborative therapeutic relationship, I work with clients to identify and challenge unhelpful thinking patterns, explore and connect with values, and change behaviors by building distress tolerance through approaching anxiety in a supported environment.

Do you find yourself trapped in cycles of rumination or anxiety? Do you go out of your way to avoid feeling sadness, grief, discomfort, or shame? Are you struggling to take steps forward? Are you where you wanted to be? As Mary Oliver said, "Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine." For most of us, life requires some amount of pain. Without help, our difficulties can feel unmanageable and all-consuming. My role is to hold compassionate space to sit beside you in discomfort, and when it's time, consider a new way forward.

Hello! My name is Aryn Pardieck and I am a psychotherapist based in Illinois and Wisconsin. My style is warm and friendly. I specialize in treating OCD, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, trauma, depression, and grief and loss. I further specialize in working with the LGBTQ+ community, including transgender and nonbinary clients. I always provide gender-affirming care and work to provide a safe and accepting space. I also very much enjoy working with those who want to go deeper in therapy and explore mindfulness. I have 15 year of experience working with adults and teens.

So, how's the scroll? Looking for a therapist can be stressful enough because most people are unsure how to find the right therapist. The greatest predictor of success in therapy is the strength of the relationship with your counselor. In other words, it’s best to choose someone that you click with because it’s going to be easier for you to trust the process. I’m definitely a straight shooter, and I tell it like it is, but I always have your best interests in mind. I combine evidence-based treatments with talk therapy, and somehow, humor tends to creep in from time to time too.

Now accepting new clients in my practice as of 12/18/23 - If you've experienced trauma that caused you to suppress, avoid, and close yourself off from the world - to deny your needs & make yourself small - I feel you. I tried coping with trauma by turning against myself, and it only increased the shame and isolation. I'm sure there's a part of you who is curious about finding another way, who realizes you are more than your struggles. Together, we can experiment with changing your relationship to your anxiety, OCD, trauma, and identity concerns, so you can reconnect with what you need to live a rich and fulfilling life.

I (Dr. Crystal Bauer) am a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder of the Anxiety Wellness Center of Chicagoland. I have been specializing in the treatment of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders to individuals across the lifespan for nearly a decade. I have extensive training in cognitive-behavioral therapy, specifically exposure therapy/exposure and response prevention (ERP), behavioral activation, behavior modification, mindfulness and other CBT techniques. Through these modalities, you learn how to identify and challenge unhelpful thinking patterns, respond in a more effective manner, and learn how to tolerate and accept discomfort.

Life can be busy, stressful, and overwhelming. Knowing where to get support can be a challenge. At Head First Health we make it easy for you to begin therapy by offering convenient virtual sessions with therapists who truly understand YOU. We support millennial women experiencing anxiety, OCD, panic attacks, eating disorders, trauma, and depression. We specialize in using evidence based therapies such as CBT, ACT, ERP, and Mindfulness, to really target your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in order to create impactful and lasting change.

Anxiety is a universal human experience. It can help protect us from harm or motivate our best performance. It can also feel unmanageable at times and start to interfere with our ability to function. Panic attacks, obsessions, compulsions, endless worry, and traumatic memories can leave a person feeling helpless. My role is to help you discover your own ability to live your life in a meaningful way despite what obstacles you may be facing. I can help you find a healthier way to overcome worries, panic, and trauma.

I help people harness their strengths and learn new skills to increase their coping repertoire. I use cognitive behavioral strategies to enhance coping abilities and help people grow. Through a collaborative relationship, I help people define their goals, discover what strategies work for them, and work towards the next phase of their life. I'm pretty direct in my approach. Plus, I think everyone needs to have a sense of humor and I bring this attitude to my work.

Speaking to someone about your most intimate struggles can be daunting, and I appreciate the vulnerability that goes along with opening up about yourself and your experiences. With this in mind, my goal is to create a safe and non-judgmental space for you to explore what is no longer serving you. Working with a counselor can be empowering, as it will allow you to increase self-awareness and make meaningful life changes. Together, we can explore patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that may be preventing you from reaching your full potential.

When we live our lives in a state of constant fight-or-flight, we can go into survival mode. Worries, phobias, panic attacks, trauma, obsessive thoughts, avoidant behavior, and/or repetitive/compulsive behaviors can make us feel hopeless and helpless. We can find ourselves overthinking, overanalyzing, and feeling powerless. If you're feeling like life hasn't been moving in a positive direction, find yourself in a state of hypervigilence due to trauma and/or frozen by fears and uncertainty, you CAN find your way out - sometimes we just need some extra support to do so .

I have expertise in cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy for people struggling with OCD, anxiety, ADHD, emotional dysregulation, and anger. I also specialize in parent coaching for anxiety-related disorders, and identity exploration in adulthood. I believe that everyone deserves the space to explore themselves on a deeper level, and would love to guide you through this process.