Therapist
Chicago Illinois 60646
As a Catholic Priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago with a Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology, I have served as a clinician and minister in the field of human services/mental health for over 25 years.
I am the Founder and CEO of Connections CHC (serving Cook and Lake County). I offer therapeutic services to adolescents, adults and families of diverse cultural backgrounds struggling with a wide range of emotional, behavioral, and spiritual problems.
Contact me for more information about my counseling services at: 847-239-2326.
Connections CHC offers the highest level of individualized care. Our programs include short and long term individual therapy for adolescents and adults, Group Therapy, Marital and Pre-Marital counseling. Short-and-long term treatment options may be discussed, and together we will develop a plan for treatment.
For a compressive list of CPC's services, or to schedule a confidential consultation, please contact our team.
From a Faith perspective, we consider the practice of psychotherapy a response to the vocation to heal. Such a vocation to a life's work involves the therapist being called to care genuinely for the client and to develop skills to communicate the care and empathy, as well as to employ empirically-supported psychotherapeutic techniques. As a whole then, the primary condition for change in therapy is the relationship between the client, who makes a decision to change, and the therapist, who therapeutically aids the client to make that change through competent care and treatment.
We directly address psychological issues in a way that was respectful of his spiritual life. This will include instilling hope as an effective motivator in the clients life.
At the philosophical level, we understand that the human person is a unity of body, spiritual soul, who is interpersonally relational from conception. The whole person is called to grow not only physically, but also psychologically, morally, and spiritually in personal self-gift (love) and wisdom (knowledge), as well as in freedom and responsibility.
We would coordinate the psychological effort with the proper work of appropriate religious practices (involving prayer, scripture, and sacraments, for example in the case of the Catholic tradition). A complement to the psychological treatment could consist of assigned spiritual readings.
Connections CHC provides outpatient individual and group therapy for clergy, men and women religious, and laity who may be struggling with a range of psychological, spiritual and emotional needs. We also provide Candidate Assessments to assist seminaries, dioceses and religious communities in the discernment process of a candidate.
Ministry is often unpredictable, and a pastor is always on call. Just when things seem to be settling down a call comes in the middle of the night…another trip to the hospital, another funeral to plan, another missed family meal, or family vacation cut short.
Over time it is easy to suffer from what some call “compassion fatigue,” a kind of numbness that naturally arises to protect a caregiver from being overwhelmed by so much suffering.
Many pastors get only one day off a week if they are lucky, and even this day is hard to protect. We work closely with priests, deacons, and religious to help them heal from the deep emotional wounds of the past; wounds that often prevent them from experiencing deeper connections with God and others.
We employ the same employ the same empirically-supported psychotherapeutic techniques as mainstream psychotherapy. We also use other empirically-supported psychotherapeutic techniques that have been developed from Christian insights, such as forgiveness therapy, which also recognizes that human nature can be healed and transformed with God's help (divine grace). We ask for a flat fee of $75 per session. Cash, Check, or Credit Card payment are expected at the time of the appointment. No Insurance billing is available at this time.
