Anxiety and depression therapists and psychiatrists in Buffalo Grove, IL

• I provide a warm, collaborative, and culturally responsive space for clients navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, OCD, and major life transitions. I understand that your mental health is shaped by more than symptoms alone—your culture, identity, relationships, experiences, and environment all matter. I’ll take the time to understand your unique story and strengths while helping you build practical tools, greater resilience, and meaningful change that aligns with your values and goals.

I have been a licensed clinical social worker for over 30 years bringing broad experience and perspective to my sessions. I believe that joining with a client is paramount to establishing trust. Trusting that your provider cares for you, has your best interest at heart and provides you with reasonable and doable solutions is key to growth. If we don’t connect, no harm/no foul. We agree to move on and I will assist with that process, if necessary.

I believe quality mental health care starts with feeling heard and respected. I take a collaborative, patient-centered approach and work to understand the whole person, not just symptoms. My goal is to provide a supportive, nonjudgmental space while offering thoughtful, evidence-based psychiatric care tailored to each individual’s needs.

Hello, my name is Summer Carter, LCSW, MBA, and I am passionate about helping individuals navigate life’s challenges with compassion, hope, and support. With experience in mental health, trauma-informed care, emotional wellness, grief support, and life transitions, I strive to create a safe and empowering space where clients feel heard, respected, and valued.

I believe that everyone’s story matters, and no one should have to face difficult seasons alone.

I've spent more than 30 years working at the intersection of trauma, behavioral health, substance use, and the legal system — the places where people's lives get the most complicated. My background includes community mental health, child welfare, residential treatment, and forensic social work throughout the Chicago area. I've worked with courts, directed multi-site programs, and served populations that most therapists don't encounter. Now I bring all of that experience into one-on-one telehealth sessions for adults across Illinois.I work best with people who have been through real complexity: trauma that runs deep, co-occurring mental health and substance use challenges, grief that doesn't follow a timeline, life disrupted by legal system involvement, or histories that are hard to explain to someone who hasn't seen it before. If you've worked with other therapists who didn't quite get it — I understand, and I'm not starting from scratch with you. I'm also currently completing my Doctorate of Social Work at the University of New England, which reflects my commitment to staying at the leading edge of clinical practice. My work is grounded in evidence-based approaches — CBT, Trauma-Focused CBT, Motivational Interviewing, Strength-Based Therapy — applied with warmth, directness, and 30 years of real-world experience behind them.

My practice centers on helping people work through depression, ADHD, and bipolar disorder with care that actually fits their life. I've been in independent practice for about two years, and in that time I've found that the providers people stay with are the ones who listen well and adjust as things change. I'm a PMHNP with full practice authority, so I can manage medications and provide psychiatric services without a collaborating physician. I see clients via telehealth throughout Illinois, with flexible scheduling available Monday through Saturday. If you've been waiting to find someone who's approachable and genuinely wants to get you moving in the right direction, I'd like to be that person.

Everyone needs help sometimes, not because they are broken, but because life can become too heavy to sort through alone. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who believes every person should have access to support that helps them rise to new challenges, cope with loss, manage the ups and downs of mood, and better understand who they are. I work with adults navigating grief and loss, anxiety, depression, stress, mood changes, life transitions, relationship issues, PTSD, trauma and the feeling of being stuck or disconnected from themselves. My goal is to provide a safe, nonjudgmental space where you can feel supported while we make sense of what you are carrying and create a path toward living your best life.

You’ve already taken an important step by being here. I’m Selena Hughes, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, and I work with adults facing substance use, anxiety, depression, PTSD, bipolar disorder, grief, and trauma. Together, we’ll make sense of what you’re going through, better understand your patterns, and help you reconnect with your strengths so you can feel more hopeful and in control.

I have been a therapist for over twenty five years with a varied background including hospice, nursing homes, home care and individual counseling settings. I became a licensed, clinical social worker after graduating from the University of IL-Urbana 30 years ago.