Obsessive-compulsive disorder therapists & psychiatrists in Park Ridge, IL

Are you looking for a therapist who understands your culture and speaks your language? I can help. I am fluent in Spanish, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, and German.

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Counselor with 40 years of clinical experience. I work with adults, children, and adolescents, and I value each person’s cultural background, identity, and lived experience.

My approach to counseling begins with a simple conviction: you are more than a diagnosis, a set of symptoms, or a problem to be solved. You are a whole person living a real life—with relationships, responsibilities, experiences, hopes, beliefs, and circumstances that all matter.

I work primarily with adults and couples facing a wide range of concerns and seasons of life. My role is to come alongside you, helping you understand what you are experiencing, see yourself and your circumstances more clearly, and discern how you want to respond to the life before you.

Welcome — I'm so glad you're here! With 23 years of experience as a school social worker, I am passionate about helping children, adolescents, and families navigate life's challenges and build the skills needed to thrive at home, school and in their communities. I work with children and teens ages 3-17, as well as parents and caregivers who are seeking support, guidance, and practical strategies to strengthen family relationships, work through family conflicts and improve daily functioning. My goal is to help build the necessary skills to strengthen relationships and homeostasis within family structures and the individual.

I specialize in working with neurodivergent children, adolescents, and families including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), ADHD, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), social-communication challenges, anxiety, emotional regulation difficulties, and behavioral challenges. I also specialize in working with high conflict family dynamics which include parent-child relationships, divorce (for families that are both in and/or out of the family court system), sibling rivalry, and multicultural child rearing.

I believe one of the most courageous things you can do is begin to understand your own story.

My goal is to create a safe, grounded, and trusting space where you can begin your process of healing and growth. I work collaboratively with you to build a relationship that feels supportive, attuned, and meaningful—so you can explore what’s been weighing on you and move toward real, lasting change.

My work is rooted in supporting adults navigating trauma and its impact on emotional, relational, and day-to-day functioning. I use an individualized, evidence-based approach, integrating modalities such as CBT, DBT, ACT, and trauma-focused therapies to ensure your care is tailored specifically to you.

I have worked with individuals, families, and diverse populations across multiple settings, including private practice, hospitals, and community-based programs.

I earned my Master’s in Counseling Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, with a concentration in Trauma and Crisis Intervention. Prior to this, I obtained my MD from Garyunis University in Benghazi, where I began my career as a psychiatrist, working in high-intensity and war-affected environments. That experience shaped my deep commitment to understanding trauma and the human capacity for resilience.

Since then, my work has expanded across different countries and clinical settings, including private practice, hospitals, and advocacy programs addressing domestic violence, sexual trauma, and gender-based violence.

What I value most in this work is witnessing your growth—supporting you in making sense of your experiences, reconnecting with yourself, and stepping into a more grounded, meaningful life.

First things first, it is vital to me that you, my future clients, know that I feel honored to hold space for you. I am confident in my ability to uphold my responsibility to you, but one thing that providing patient care for 22 years has taught me is that you, the patient, is the best informant to your care. It is of utmost importance that my clients feel safe, heard, and respected.