Book a therapist or psychiatrist in Joliet, IL covered by Cigna

I believe therapy is a safe space where clients feel heard and accepted for who they are. I approach clients with compassion, understanding, and without judgement. I recognize that everyone has unique experiences, needs, goals, and strengths. For me, building a genuine and trusting relationship is an important part of the therapeutic process. I want my clients to feel that they can be open and honest while knowing that I’m there to support them. I see therapy as a collaborative process, where we work together to identify goals, explore challenges, and find tools and strategies that can make life feel more manageable.

I believe mental health care works best when it is collaborative, respectful, and personalized.

I am a board-certified registered art therapist and licensed clinical professional counselor. I have worked in non-profit organizations, providing counseling services to young children adolescents, and adults.

I am a board certified Pyschiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner with a passion for helping others meet their individual goals. My nursing career started in 2015 on an inpatient psychiatric unit. I completed my Master's degree in 2018 and moved to Oupatient Psychiatry and Consult Liaison services. For the last 7 years I have worked in Addiction Psychiatry and Dual Diagnosis settings, focusing on medication management, harm reduction, and decreasing barriers to high quality care.

You might be carrying things you have never said out loud, especially if you have spent your life feeling like you had to explain or defend who you are before anyone would really listen. I work with young adults and adolescents, particularly those from BIPOC backgrounds, who are looking for a space where they do not have to translate themselves first. My approach is warm and direct, and I bring cultural responsiveness and faith sensitivity into our work because I believe healing should honor all of who you are, not just the parts that are easiest to talk about.

I have been in practice for 15 years

Use of efficacious techniques to help clients find the root cause of their problems

I believe in a slow therapeutic process which affords clients the ability to learn a healthy perspective about themselves, the world around them and significant relationships in their lives

We are all travelers in this lifetime. Everyone is traveling to the same destination, but all benefit from a guide/professional support. I pass no judgment, I only meet people where they are at and where they wish to be. Let's get you to where you wish to be. I do encourage holistic and alternative methods to get to your goals, but am not against traditional approaches and in fact combining clinical with alternative have proven to have the best outcomes. Be prepared to put in the work. There will be homework, and it will be challenging. It could in fact be the most difficult thing that you do, but it is in your best interest.

My style is eclectic and strength based. I see human nature as intrinsically good. Sigmund Freud said we are bio-social animals. I believe a great deal in listening to one’s self talk. The more positive our dialogue with ourselves is, the more positive our dialogues with others and our lives are. I’m also experienced in CBT, DBT, MI, Solution Focused, ACT, Gestalt, Interpersonal, and person-centered counseling.

My training includes lots of wonderful supervision and workshops, a three-year certificate from the Gestalt Institute of Chicago, and two one month intensives with Virginia Satir, the founder of family therapy. Virginia taught that exploring the self is like mining gold. We all have gold inside of us. That is our basic goodness. A lot of emotional suffering is the result of being detoured from that basic goodness.