Clients Served
FAQs
What is a licensed clinical professional counselor?
Why should I choose to work with you?
Are there any types of clients you do not see?
Do you have evening/weekend hours?
Would it be better for me to see a male or a female therapist?
How long should I expect therapy to last?
What is a licensed clinical professional counselor?
As you have probably already found from your search, there are a very large number of therapists in the Chicago area. In addition to the sheer volume of counselors from which to choose, there is a confusing array of types of mental health professionals. Tom and Lorena are Clinical Professional Counselors, licensed by the state of Illinois to provide professional counseling and mental health services to individuals, couples, families, groups, and organizations. These services include:
- Applying clinical counseling theory and techniques to prevent and alleviate mental and emotional disorders and psychopathology and to promote optimal mental health.
- Providing clinical counseling and psychotherapy to help alleviate emotional disorders; understand conscious and unconscious motivation; resolve emotional, relationship, and attitudinal conflicts; and modify behaviors that interfere with effective emotional, social, adaptive, and intellectual functioning.
To become Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors, we were required to complete a rigorous graduate training program, including coursework in human growth and development; counseling theory; counseling techniques; assessment; research and evaluation; professional, legal, and ethical responsibilities; psychopathology; substance abuse; family systems; group dynamics; lifestyles and career development; and social and cultural foundations of counseling. In addition, we were required to serve clinical internships, complete over 3,300 hours of supervised experience after our graduate training, and pass two licensure examinations administered by the National Board for Certified Counselors: the National Counselor Examination and the National Clinical Mental Health Counselor Examination.
Why should I choose to work with you?
Having solid training and clinical experience is only part of what you should be looking for in a therapist. The rest is more intangible. Questions you might ask yourself are: Would I feel comfortable talking with this person about personal, intimate details of my life? Does there seem to be a good fit personality-wise? Is the therapist a good listener? Will I feel heard? Does this person have the life experience to be able to understand the issues I am struggling with? Can I feel assured that I will not be judged? Tom and Lorena have the life experience to match their professional training. With each having over 35 years of professional and career experience, hopefully some measure of widsom has been attained. Tom and Lorena have warm, outgoing personalities that put clients at ease. They have experience working effectively with people from all walks of life and often have personal experience in dealing with many of the most common types of problems that their clients are confronting.
Are there any types of clients you do not see?
Our practice is geared toward adolescents (high school age and older) and adults. We do not work with children, nor do we work with those whose primary presenting problem is alcohol or substance-abuse related. Because we are an office-based practice, we do not treat clients who are in need of intensive inpatient therapy.
Do you have evening/weekend hours?
We try as best as we can to accommodate our clients’ work and personal schedules. As such, we offer some evening and weekend hours. If you are able to schedule your appointments during the day, however, you will have a much wider choice of available appointment times from which to choose.
Would it be better for me to see a male or a female therapist?
This is a very important, personal choice. Some women prefer to see a woman therapist; some prefer to see a male therapist. Similarly, some men want to work with a male therapist, while others have a preference for a woman therapist. The most important factor in counseling is the relationship—the connection—between the therapist and the client, not the gender of the therapist. A woman can have a wonderful therapeutic relationship with a male therapist and an awful relationship with a female therapist or vice versa. Once a safe, trusting, nurturing therapeutic alliance is established, the issue of gender sometimes becomes less important. For those clients, however, male or female, who would prefer to work with a woman therapist, please contact Lorena directly or request her when you fill out the Contact Form. For those clients who would like to see a male therapist, please contact Tom directly or request him on the Contact Form.
How long should I expect therapy to last?
This is a difficult question to answer, which depends on many factors. Most important, of course, is the nature of the presenting problem or the reason the individual is seeking counseling. In some cases, there may be a specific issue that needs to be addressed (e.g., a relationship conflict), which might lend itself to a shorter term course of treatment (e.g. 8-12 sessions). In other cases, the individual may be at a point in life where his or her established patterns of functioning do not seem to be working anymore. This situation usually requires a more in-depth psychological exploration. For better or worse, ingrained patterns of thought and behavior simply cannot be changed in a matter of weeks; considerable time and effort is required. Committing to a sustained course of treatment may be the only way of getting at the core problem, rather than just “treating the symptom.”
What are your fees?
Although this is certainly an important consideration—and is sometimes the first question asked—we encourage clients not to base their selection of a therapist on cost alone. We typically discuss fee arrangements with new clients during the first session but, to give you some idea, our usual fee is $125 an hour. We are committed, however, to providing care to those who are unable to pay our usual fee. Therefore, we set aside a certain portion of our professional time to see clients on a sliding-scale basis.
Do you accept insurance?
We are participating network providers for Blue Cross Blue Shield. If you have other health insurance coverage, we would be considered “out-of-network” providers. This does not mean, however, that you will not be reimbursed for our services. At the end of each session, we will provide you with a “superbill” that includes all of the information you need for purposes of filing a claim with your insurance company. To avoid any confusion, however, we encourage new clients to check with their insurance company to determine the level of benefits they can expect to receive.
Do you prescribe medication?
As licensed clinical professional counselors, we are not authorized to prescribe. In cases where we believe medication may be appropriate to consider, we will refer you to a physician for an assessment. For patients already under a physician's care, we will work closely with that professional to ensure that care is coordinated in an efficient and professional manner.