Christopher Akel

I believe that psychotherapy is a special kind of health care. It can help you better understand yourself and others, work with and expand limits in your life, and help you better cope with feelings and challenges. I use many strategies to surface and explore deeper motivations flowing beneath our experience, with a special emphasis on our emotions. I am an LCSW therapist with 3+ years of therapy in Illinois. I am a male and Arab-identifying former teacher, and I seek to build a relationship of safety and trust with each person I work with.

Therapy is a project of relating, and I seek to build a relationship of safety and trust with each person I work with. I root my approach in a warm, anti-oppressive orientation, use a systemic, anti-carceral lens to view our current realities, and I seek to provide racially competent, LGBTQIA+ allied care. I work with individuals who are stuck in distress loops or who are looking to gain insight in their patterns of behavior, identities, or stages in life. I am an integrative therapist, with training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and psychodynamic strategies, and I use these strategies to surface and explore deeper motivations flowing beneath our experience, with a special emphasis on our emotions.

Whether you are going through a big transition, wrestling with difficult emotions, or just feeling stuck, therapy can be a space for you to talk through what is happening and to build toward a more fulfilling way of living. The people I work with can expect openness, ongoing curiosity and inquiry, and a constant deep dive into the challenging realities of life.