Caitlin Shea, LPC

“Individual healing processes support the collective and vice versa; our personal thriving is rooted in communal thriving. Healing is perhaps one of the most creative, powerful and fulfilling forms of activism we can engage in.”

Insurance Taken:

• Aetna
• AMITA Health HMO (site # 197, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500)
• Anthem
• Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO or Blue Choice
• Cigna, Cigna EAP, Evernorth
• Fox Valley Medicine HMO (site # 199)
• Loyola Physicians Partners (LPP) HMO
• Meritain Health
• NU-SHIP
• Ravenswood Physician Associates HMO
• Resurrection Physicians Provider Group HMO

Specialties:

• Anxiety/OCD
• Caregiver Support
• Depression
• Difficulty Regulating Emotions
• General Life Stressors / Transitions
• Grief
• Identify Related Stressors
• Relationship Stressors
• Self Esteem / Self Doubt
• Substance Use
• Trauma Work

Therapeutic Approach

What does it mean to thrive? As we all exist as individuals, certainly thriving is involved with our own healing journeys and processes: experiencing the fullness of life, emotions and experiences in connection with ourselves. However, we also exist in communities and environments that operate on collective levels; if thriving is not present in the collective, individual thriving is severely limited. I believe that thriving can mean a deeper connection to self and others, the accessibility of spaces and resources that supports dynamic growth and self expression and opportunities for communal activism and integration. As a therapist, I am here to support you on your own unique journey in these processes, however the journey and process may look for you.

But how can we experience thriving when life can be full of pain, challenges and grief? I believe people are experts on themselves and with my training as an integrative therapist, seek to guide people in this journey of knowing themselves, experiencing freedom and healing from trauma. With connection to self and others in healthy relationships and community as a foundation of healing from trauma, processing pain and learning what living life in fullness can look like, I use a mix of techniques from different therapeutic modalities in dynamic response to the needs of each person. Behavioral models such as CBT and DBT, in combination with techniques drawn from trauma informed therapy, experiential therapy, and movement and mindfulness practices are modalities I pull from to support my clients depending on their specific needs, desires and therapeutic goals of the individual. I also seek to support people in engaging with their creativity which I believe can enhance and guide the therapeutic experience.

I do not believe that our journeys are linear, or that healing or thriving represent a set end goal to achieve or attain. I consider myself someone who, like everyone else, is on a journey and so as you commit to your own therapeutic process, so I am committed to my own. As a cis white women in residing in the so-called USA, I am committed to my own anti-racist, anti-oppressive training and growth and seek to use any positions that I am in to un-do the systems that actively oppress, abuse and disconnect people from the individual and collective thriving I seek to foster through healing practices.

Specializations & Interests

I adore and consider it an honor to support people in therapeutic processes. I am interested in the ways that healing and advocacy for the collective influences the health of individuals and vice versa, I also think that by supporting the healing and thriving of the individual, collective change and healing can be brought about through the powerful and unique contributions each individual adds to their community and larger society. Specifically, I have experience working with people who are working through the challenges related with anxiety, depression, mood disorders, addictions, adjustments, intergenerational and systemic trauma, learning disabilities, attachments, relationships and self connection. I believe that each person is already whole and has all the capabilities to fulfill their goals: I am here to provide support, outside insight and tools to go through such processes with you. As appropriate, I also seek to advocate for the unmet needs of clients, such as lack of access to resources or limitations in access to needed care.

Biography

Before working with CIC, I worked as a equine-assisted psychotherapist- a modality in which people have the opportunity to work with horses as part of their therapeutic process of healing. This helped in drawing the person into the present moment and using mindfulness techniques to work through things like trauma, anxiety, depression and learning disabilities. I have also worked with an addiction and abuse recovery center, showing me how systemic and generational oppression can inhibit people’s growth and thriving and providing me with tools to support people in integrated ways. I also work as an art teacher and am interested in the ways in which things such as painting, drawing and writing can provide people with spaces to communicate and express themselves while also contributing to their growth and healing.

When I am not working, I am typically in nature or traveling. I find that for me, healing and growth are rooted in movement, being outside and connecting with people in places in environments that invite me to see life in different ways. I want to support clients well and one way I do this is to make sure I am spending time shaping and growing myself in ways that are often messy but also life-giving.

I hope that as I work with people in therapeutic settings, they feel accepted and cared for as they travel through whatever portion of life they are in, with all of its joys and obstacles, recognizing their own strength and intrinsic value.