Addiction therapists & psychiatrists in Chicago, IL

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.

I specialize in counseling individuals with addictions, eating disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and trauma. My goal as a therapist is to help patients live the life they imagine, so please feel free to come in and let me know what you're struggling with, and we will work collaboratively to figure out the best way to move toward healing. I know life can get really challenging at times, symptoms flare up, you feel lost. I'm here to listen to you and work together to help you cope and rebuild the life you want to live.

I grew up on the south side of Chicago. I am married and have two adult children. I have been a registered nurse for 30 years, primarily in women’s health and psychology and psychiatry nursing. I became a clinical mental health counselor 5 years ago, graduated from Bradley University.

Dr. Christina Alexakos is a Clinical Psychologist with over 19 years of experience

providing psychotherapy to individuals across the lifespan from childhood to geriatric.

She has experience in assisting clients with adjustment issues ranging from changes in

occupation, education, grief, relocation, providing skills in parenting, stress and pain

management, health and wellness, mindfulness, increasing self-esteem and

assertiveness. She has worked with anxiety and depressive disorders, bipolar disorder,

trauma, anger management, personality disorders, and severe mental illness.

Dr. Christina Alexakos earned her Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology

from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She provided inpatient

psychological assessments and group psychotherapy at Hartgrove Psychiatric Hospital.

She trained in Health Psychology in the pain clinic at Swedish Covenant Hospital as

well as providing inpatient and outpatient psychotherapy to hospital patients. The

University of Chicago and The University of Illinois at Chicago provided comprehensive

training in neuropsychological evaluations with adults and children experiencing a wide

range of clinical concerns. She completed an internship at Southlake Community Mental

Health Center and a postdoctoral fellowship at Hopewell Academies, a therapeutic day

school for special needs/troubled teenagers.

Hello, I am Skip I have been a therapist for over 12 years. I love what I do and am passionate about assisting people with addressing life issues. I specialize in trauma, addictions and couples therapy.