5 Highly Recommended Therapists for Coping Skills in Chicago
Master your stress with personalized coping skills therapy in Chicago
Flexible scheduling options, including morning, afternoon, and evening appointments to accommodate your busy schedule.
Telehealth services available, ensuring accessibility for clients anywhere in the state of Illinois.
Specialization in relationship counseling, helping couples and improve communication and resolve conflicts.
Specialized in evidence-based practices, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Strengths-Based Therapy.
Trauma-informed therapists, with expertise in treating PTSD and complex trauma.
Compassionate and collaborative approach, tailoring treatment to each individual's unique needs and goals.
Takeaway: Finding healthy ways to navigate life's stressors can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to face it alone. At our Chicago-based therapy practice, we specialize in helping individuals develop effective coping skills to manage stress, anxiety, and life’s challenges with greater confidence and resilience. Together, we can create a personalized plan to help you thrive.
About SG Therapy Group
SG Therapy Group is a boutique practice where each clinician customizes their approach to meet your unique needs. We understand that finding the right therapist can feel overwhelming, which is why our team is committed to creating a warm, welcoming, and safe environment. Drawing on their advanced education and training, our therapists are equipped to address your mental health concerns with expertise and compassion. Developing healthy coping skills is an extremely common treatment goal that our therapists work with clients on. We are here to help you cope with whatever life throws at you.
Meet our top-rated coping skills therapists in Chicago
1. Corinne Bloom, LCSW
Corinne is a coping skills therapist that utilizes empathy to create a safe and non-judgmental space for to you explore your inner world and work towards your goals. She takes a client-centered approach and draws upon techniques from CBT, DBT and psychodynamic theory. Working with Corinne, you will learn coping strategies to handle challenging situations that you face in your life.
2. Molly Adams, LCSW
Molly's therapeutic approach involves exploring your thoughts, emotions, and relationships. She collaborates with her clients to build resilience and promote constructive change. During treatment, you will spend time finding healthier ways to manage your stress and emotions and implementing coping mechanisms that best suit your needs.
3. Aviva Brill, LCSW
Our clinician, Aviva, takes a holistic approach with her clients to implement coping mechanisms for self-exploration, managing negative feelings, and improving your overall wellbeing. She strongly believes in the power of healing through feeling heard. She establishes a safe environment to develop healthy coping.
4. Sydney Gideon, LCSW
Sydney is a passionate clinician that uses a strengths-based perspective to help her clients identify and reach their goals. She believes in viewing the individual in the context of their environment to gain a full picture of your worldview. One example of a skill you may learn with Sydney involves paying attention to your body to monitor emotions or sensations. Her training in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) will equip you with many coping mechanisms to process trauma.
5. Maddie Persanyi, LCPC
Maddie provides authenticity and empathy in her relationships with clients to fully understand your inner thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Coping behaviors you may learn with Maddie involve managing communication or emotions in difficult situations, self-care, or within your personal relationships.
How to start coping skills therapy
Contact
Reach out to us and let us know your availability, type of insurance, and a brief description of what you're struggling with in life. You can take a look at our SGTG clinicians to see which therapist would be a good fit for you! If you are unsure who to work with, we are happy to match a clinician to your specific needs.
Schedule
We offer free 15 minute phone consultations for anyone who is interested in speaking to their potential therapist before scheduling their first intake session. This time can be used to discuss scheduling logistics or to ask the therapist any questions you may have! You are also welcome to schedule your intake session and get the process started!
Intake
Before your first session, you will receive a questionnaire from your therapist to ask more about your history and current symptoms. Our privacy policy and HIPAA agreements are also included. Once this is complete, you will meet with your therapist either in-person or virtually and have your session! If you have questions about what a first session might be like, check out our FAQs!
Why work with us
We use collaboration for your treatment
SGTG views therapy as a partnership and values working collaboratively with our clients to find solutions that work specifically for you. We are here to guide you on your journey so that you can take an active role in the therapeutic process.
We hire experienced clinicians
Collectively, our therapists have specialized training and experience in skills around healthy coping, no matter what you are going through. Because we are a group practice, we share insight and psycho-education in weekly meetings to foster continuous knowledge to bring to our individual clients.
We teach long-term skills for independence
No matter the approach, the SGTG therapists share a passion for teaching you healthy coping skills that foster resilience. We are here to offer relief from your specific symptoms, but also to equip you with skills that become part of your everyday interactions that can maintain in the long run.
Common reasons why people start therapy for coping skills
Oftentimes clients who seek therapy for coping skills find that there was a moment recently in their life where they realized they were coping in unhealthy ways. Whether individuals ignore or suppress their difficult emotions, they get stuck in a spiral of their negative thoughts, or they find comfort in unhealthy coping skills such as substance use, these all contribute negatively to one's mental health.
Unhealthy coping due to stress and anxiety can look like burnout, lack of sleep, feeling unable to relax, or exhaustion. Learning coping skills can help you manage your stress in an effective way.
Experiencing change happens to all of us, and at times it can feel overwhelming. It is common to feel more stress during times of transition, so people often seek healthy coping mechanisms to manage their feelings during these times.
Symptoms of trauma or PTSD can resonate deeply within our bodies and be very challenging to manage on your own, especially if you are using unhealthy coping skills. People who have experienced trauma often have intrusive thoughts, negative thoughts about themselves and others, or have difficulty concentrating. Therapy can be helpful by providing healthy coping skills to manage your symptoms.
When another practice might be a better fit for your needs
If you are looking for a workshop or clinic
Our private practice's goal is to equip you with tools to lead a fulfilling life while also establishing a healthy relationship with your therapist, someone you can trust and confide in. A workshop or program of sorts typically meet more frequently than one would for individual sessions with their therapist. These also involve a group setting, whereas SGTG does not provide group therapy sessions.
If you are seeking group therapy
SGTG provides individual counseling and couples counseling. We are not offering group therapy sessions at this time. In Illinois, there are great options that can specifically be tailored to learning general coping skills or might involve coping strategies for a particular problem.
If you need free therapy services
We know that the financial aspect of therapeutic services can be a barrier for people seeking treatment. As a boutique therapy group, we are unable to provide no-cost services. If you are hoping for financial assistance, you can contact your local mental health agency or partner with an organization such as Sista Afya Community Care or Family Institute.
FAQs
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There are several therapeutic modalities that incorporate building coping strategies. The most common ones that our clinicians utilize are listed below.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT helps individuals identify and challenge negative thought patterns that contribute to emotional distress and teaches healthier thinking patterns.
Coping Skills Taught in CBT:
Cognitive restructuring
Challenging irrational thoughts
Engaging in positive activities
Relaxation techniques (deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, self monitoring)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT is focused on the balance between acceptance and change and teaches mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. It is often used
Coping Skills Taught in DBT:
Mindfulness (being aware of the present moment)
Distress tolerance (tolerating negative emotions without acting on them)
Emotion regulation (identifying and managing emotions)
Interpersonal effectiveness (assertive communication and setting boundaries)
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
In this type of approach, the therapist helps the individual identify strengths, resources, and past successes that can be leveraged to cope with current challenges.
Coping Skills Taught in SFBT:
Identifying strengths
Goal-setting and problem solving
Building on past successes
Positive reframing
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While each person's experience in therapy is unique, there are some common things that our therapists work with their clients on to increase healthy coping skills. Below are just a few examples of skills that can be learned and implemented in the therapeutic process:
challenging unhelpful thinking patterns
tolerating uncomfortable emotions
relaxation techniques
communication skills to utilize with family members, workplace environment, relationships, etc.
time management and planning ahead
positive ways to self soothe
reducing anxiety around stressful situations
building social support
improving physical health
coping methods around healthy foods and exercise
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The timeline for the therapeutic process can not be said for certain, as everyone moves at their own pace. If coping skills are your primary concern or goal in therapy, you can work with your therapist to determine a general timeline. Keep in mind that therapy requires you to practice these coping strategies out side of session to determine their success. You may be currently in a stressful situation which will allow you to utilize these new coping mechanisms right away, or they become part of your tool box to handle stress in the future.
Start coping skills therapy today
If you are tired of relying on unhealthy coping skills that ultimately are having negative effects on your life, take charge and learn from our experts! Reach out to our SGTG clinicians so that you can improve your well being and live your life in a healthy way. We offer free 15 minute consultations if you have any questions!