My first question to any new client is, “How will you know when therapy is over?”
Our discussion of this question will help us both to define the goals of individual psychotherapy. Together, we’ll focus on solutions to problems, and build on the strengths already there.
Glenview Psychotherapy
I’ve been a therapist for children, adults, and families on the Northshore of Chicago for more than ten years. My private practice is located in Glenview, Illinois and I work with families and individuals from the surrounding communities mostly including Northbrook, Skokie, Deerfield, Evanston, Wilmette, and Highland Park.
I work with issues including anxiety, trauma, divorce, grief & loss, depression, spectrum disorders, and couples and family therapy.
I provide a safe and relaxing environment that’s designed to help facilitate healing and change. I use a variety of treatment modalities including cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy.
You can read more about my professional history on my page about my Social Work Career.
Visit my page on insurance and payment to see my fee schedule. Feel free to email me or call me at (847) 767-3503 to set up a meeting.
Anxiety is typically characterized by feelings of fear, panic, stress, and overall discomfort. Anxiety is a naturally occurring emotion that is experienced by everyone and has been essential to the survival of all species.
The internet is littered with helpful relaxation tips. I’m guilty of tweeting some of these articles on my twitter page. So in reading through all the internet has to offer on reducing stress and relaxing, I’ve collected all the “Tips” “Strategies” “Skills” “Rules” and “Steps” to reduce your anxiety. Shockingly, most of them overlap or are painfully repackaged, so I’ve boiled them down to the essentials and provided links to the articles.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the experience of bringing one’s complete attention to the present moment. It is a mental exercise based on meditation that involves focusing on the present moment or an activity. It can be useful to think of mindfulness as the opposite of daydreaming or “spacing out,” since when you work on mindfulness routines daydreams are precisely what you are seeking to avoid. We use mindfulness routines to help familiarize ourselves with this state of consciousness, to enter into it and let it begin to work, especially as an antidote to anxiety.
Feeling sad and blue occasionally is completely normal. These feelings are uncomfortable, but are temporary and are not something that prevents us from doing our work or enjoying life. Depression is a mood that goes beyond normal everyday sadness. It is an illness that affects thoughts, feelings, physical well-being, and families.
Therapy for Teenagers
I have been working with teens in one form or another since 1997. It begins with establishing a sound and safe therapeutic relationship and then supporting their growth within the family unit and the community.
The goal for any parent of a teenager is to maintain trust in the relationship as the dependency in the relationship slowly wanes. The importance of the relationship should be maintained even though the roles change. The parents' job is extremely difficult as they have to balance being in dual roles that are often contradictory of each other. Parents need to make the hard decisions when to clamp down and be the boss, and when to back off and be a supportive guide.
I’ve been working with families as a social worker and a psychotherapist since 1998. Most of the individual work that I do with teens and young adults involves family work in one form or another. This could include regular content with the family of a client (with the client’s consent) or could include family therapy sessions.
