Trauma and PTSD therapists & psychiatrists in Homewood, IL

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 20 years of experience working with children, teens, adults, and families. My background includes child welfare, foster care, residential treatment, aftercare, and behavioral health. I understand that people come to therapy carrying stress, grief, anxiety, trauma, family conflict, and life changes. My goal is to create a safe and supportive space where you feel heard, respected, and understood.

I believe that change and growth happen within a safe and secure relationship. I see symptoms as meaningful, often serving a deeper purpose, and I approach them with curiosity and compassion to help you explore what they may be trying to communicate.

If you're feeling stretched thin—anxious, exhausted, or stuck in patterns you can't quite name—you don't have to keep pushing through it alone. I'm Risa, an LCSW with over 10 years of experience helping adults move from overwhelmed to grounded.

I work with people navigating anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma and PTSD, grief, anger, relationship strain, identity questions, and difficult life transitions. Many of my clients look high-functioning on the outside while struggling underneath—racing thoughts, disrupted sleep, burnout, or a quiet sense that something needs to change.

Over my career I've supported clients in community mental health, geriatric care, veterans' health, and corrections—settings that taught me to meet people across very different circumstances without judgment. I earned my Master's in 2012 and have practiced ever since, with particular experience supporting women and the LGBTQIA+ and transgender community around identity, relationships, and self-worth.

Whatever brought you here, my aim is for you to feel understood from our very first conversation.

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a background working with children, families and people impacted by childhood, relational and systemic trauma. I believe the work that I get to do as a therapist is a calling from God (a path that I initially resisted, lol). I hope to offer you a safe holding space to unpack (in no particular order) the heavy and hard things that burden you; to help you manage the tension between the good and hard life that you have been given.

I offer a kind, supportive, and nonjudgmental space where you can show up exactly as you are. Many people come to therapy feeling overwhelmed, stuck, anxious, emotionally drained, or unsure how to move forward. You may be dealing with anxiety, depression, stress, life transitions, relationship issues, or simply the weight of trying to hold everything together on your own. My goal is to help you feel safe, heard, and supported as we work through what is weighing on you. Therapy with me is about creating a space where you do not have to have all the answers right away - just a willingness to begin.

I was born and raised in the Chicagoland area. My undergraduate B.A and graduate M.A. training took place at Wheaton College. Following graduate school in the midwest, I moved to the west coast, where I attended the California School of Professional Psychology. Here, I earned a M.A in applied psychology and Psy. D. in clinical psychology with a dual emphasis in forensics and family therapy. My research consisted of working with high risk sexual offenders. Following my time on the west coast, I worked as a Staff Psychologist and Assistant Professor at a local university. In my free time, I train in combat arts and play guitar (try at least ;-).

College and early adulthood can feel exciting and overwhelming at the same time. I work with college students and young adults who are navigating academic pressure, shifting friendships, family expectations, dating, and big life decisions. You might look like you’re managing it all, but inside you feel anxious, unsure of yourself, or constantly comparing where you are to everyone else. Whether you’re struggling with burnout, identity questions, or just trying to figure out your next step, therapy can be a place to slow down and actually breathe.