Emotionally Focused Therapists in Chicago, IL

Does your love life need work? I can help. I work with with couples who want to “rekindle the spark” - whether you’re new parents, overwhelmed by work stress, dealing with trust issues, or disconnected for other reasons. We’ll use therapy as an experimental place to practice being vulnerable, learn to process your emotions, and improve communication. I also work with individuals who are seeking partnership. We’ll discuss your challenges and center your strengths to keep you inspired and hopeful while you're looking for love.

My approach to therapy is rooted in the power of emotion and the profound impact of our earliest attachments. By helping my clients forge stronger emotional bonds and cultivate more secure ways of relating with others, I witness the remarkable transformation that can occur.

I work best with clients ready to take action and needing support to face the anxiety and depressive thinking beyond old trauma. The people who care about you want to see you build an inner strength to face challenges directly. Over the last 13 years, my clients have improved their relationships, careers and deepened the release of past pain. Prepare for facing directly your stress and symptoms, recognizing internal versus external barriers, holding yourself accountable toward healthy choices, and understanding barriers you face. Our work will support your growth and awaken the motivating force inside you.

I work across many areas of expertise including mood disorders including depression and anxiety, adjusting to life transitions, couples conflict, LGBTQ issues, and relationship issues. I assist my clients in enhancing and building coping skills to manage their stressors. I also assist with providing a safe and therapeutic space for clients to process and reflect the challenges they are facing in their lives and provide supportive feedback.

My population of focus is young adults -especially women - who are experiencing relational conflict, family discord, childhood or more recent trauma, grief, depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and lifestyle transitions. I also assist individuals who wish to explore LGBTQIA+ identities and gender affirming care.

I specialize in Anxiety, Depression, Life Transitions, Grief, Self-esteem and Relationship Issues. My therapeutic style is warm, direct, and focused on building a strong connection with my clients. I firmly believe in using evidence-based practices and collaboration when supporting individuals and couples achieve their desired outcomes. I particularly find meaning working with couples who want to deepen their connection or heal a rupture. I will use Emotionally Focused Couple's Therapy and Gottman to guide our work.

The decision to seek therapy can be difficult, as it's hard to reach out for help. My goal is to make therapy feel less overwhelming through a collaborative partnership where together we identify your challenges and develop healthy coping skills. My style, rooted in warmth and humor, utilizes the therapeutic relationship to explore positive change and growth. Customized feedback and a range of strategies are provided drawing from evidenced based research and years of clinical expertise. I specialize in individual and couples therapy uniquely focusing on enhancing relationships, healing from the past, and thriving individually.

Are you the person you want to be? Are you having difficulty in your relationship or career? Do you often feel as if you are not good enough? As a man, do you avoid or deny your feelings? Are you stung by a recent breakup/divorce? Ask yourself a different question. Are you ready to feel empowered and thrive? My goal is to help you increase self-awareness & make positive lasting changes in thoughts and behavior. I provide integrated therapy and consulting customized to your unique situation, goals, personality, strengths, and history. To help you become a better version of yourself and reach your unlimited potential.

Are you an individual wanting another perspective as you sort through life? A new couple or family? Been together for what seems like forever? Issues with your grown siblings? Whether just starting out and working through the complexities of a new job, relationship or family, or understanding that living with the same person day in and day out, year after year, can be difficult (right?!), sometimes it is helpful to bring in an outside person to help work through the "everyday-ness" of life.

As a relationship and sex therapist, I am dedicated to creating a safe, warm and positive space for processing to occur. I strive to enhance your strengths while guiding you to grow, heal and accept aspects of yourself. I believe the therapeutic journey is a collaborative process and I focus my interventions to meet your needs. Please do not hesitate to reach out for general mental health concerns if you think we would be a good fit despite my specialty. I welcome all genders, races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations and relationship configurations.

If you're here, you're probably looking for a change. Whether it's in your relationships, patterns, thoughts, feelings, or something else that's important to you. Life is full of challenges, but I firmly believe that people have fundamental inner-strengths that can help them cope. As a therapist, I warmly accept my clients as they are, and work alongside them to explore who they would like to become. I believe in the power of human connection, and strive to use that connection to help empower my clients to access their strengths; to ultimately bring about meaningful change, healing, growth, and understanding.

I pride myself on meeting my clients where they are to walk alongside them as they heal & create their best life. We all at times go through periods when processing, whether towards change or healing, becomes necessary. I hope to make that process a bit more comfortable, so that you are not alone, and also to help you move through your journey with integrity and intention. Many of my clients report feeling it to be easier to approach difficult topics due to us having a friendly relationship as a foundation. I believe that foundation is in part created due to our efforts in seeing and validating their own internal strengths.

I believe that therapy should be a safe, supportive, and non-judgmental space, that offers the opportunity to process and make sense of emotions and experiences, and move towards deeper sense of self understanding. I am dedicated to helping people identify how certain thoughts, feelings and behaviors contribute to distress, and creating a collaborative path to change. My passion for providing therapy comes from the belief that we are inherently aware of what we need to be successful and are capable of making the changes necessary to move in a positive direction.

Are you looking to make a change in your life but feel overwhelmed or unsure where to begin? I support my clients through navigating the journey of personal growth and transformation, which can often feel confusing, difficult, and scary. As your therapist, I work to understand your struggles and strengths, so that we may walk step-by-step through your discomfort and toward your goals.

It takes great courage to live out our authentic selves, find wisdom underneath our emotions, and repair and transform relationships that are close to heart. I admire your strength and humanity. As a counseling psychologist, researcher, and professor, I received doctoral and postdoctoral training in individual, couple, family, and group psychotherapy. As an immigrant, I witness life and culture in its nuances and complexities. I believe (and research shows) that, built upon a safe and trusting relationship, therapy can effectively support people to find clarity, authenticity, and resolution through the richness of our life journeys.

Welcome to the transformative journey of emotional connection and healing in your relationship or future relationships. I'm Amy Wilhelmi, and I am an Emotionally Focused Couples, Family, and Individual Therapist. I also do EMDR and am Trauma and Attachment informed. I want to extend a warm and empathetic welcome to you and your partner as we embark on a path toward fostering deeper emotional bonds, understanding, and intimacy within your relationships.

At different points in life we can find ourselves "stuck," feeling anxious, overwhelmed, defeated, exhausted, depressed, or feeling disconnected from ourselves or others. Sometimes something just feels "off." Therapy is an opportunity to make positive changes in one's life and relationships. By gaining an understanding of our needs, motives, and fears, we can move out of an "auto-pilot" mode and into an active role in our lives. I work alongside clients to help them develop awareness of their options, identify self-defeating patterns, and help remove the obstacles creating distress. Together we shed light on what has been neglected.

I am passionate about working with children & adolescents managing anxiety & depression; adults who are stressed or who have experienced trauma; OCD and ERP; and working with individuals or those involved in improving their relationships (couples or polycule therapy). I am proud to be an affirming clinician, supporting clients who identify as LGBTQIA+ & those from marginalized backgrounds. Working closely with parents as individuals or as part of a family system is also a specialty of mine. I understand the stress, pressure, love, & energy ever-present in parenting, & strive to help folx find methods, support, & balance.

I am a relational, systemic therapist who works with individual adults and couples. I believe most clients seek therapy because their approach to improving their lives is not working. They feel stuck and without direction. I help individuals and couples develop new strategies to improve their relationships, cope with significant pain and loss, and live more fulfilled and satisfying lives. My approach is empathetic, honest, interactive, and direct. I value client insight and recognize the importance of a trusting and open therapeutic relationship to bring about healing.