Clinical Therapy
Clinical therapy may be a good fit if you’re living with or suspect you meet criteria for a DSM-V diagnosis that requires care from a licensed mental health professional. Clinical therapy is also recommended for those who need documentation of their wellness process, plan to use insurance, or require letters to access resources or additional care.
Each of our clinical therapists brings a unique blend of modalities, specialties, and lived experience to their work. Regardless of approach, all clinical therapists at The Hinterlands recognize the harms and limitations of our medical system. We practice from a harm reduction lens, offering care that resists pathologization and acknowledges the systemic forces that shape mental health.
We currently offer clinical therapy for individuals ages 6 and up. Online therapy is available in Illinois and Connecticut. In-person sessions are held at our office in Irving Park, Chicago.
Clinical Therapy Modalities
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps clients identify and shift unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors. We use this structured, evidence-based approach with flexibility and care, especially when working with clients navigating systems that pathologize or stigmatize their lived experiences.
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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is a trauma treatment modality that uses eye movement to help process trauma. Our EMDR therapists work within a harm-reduction framework, integrating it with other modalities to support clients in safely metabolizing trauma.
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Group Therapy
Group therapy creates space for shared experiences, collective healing, and peer connection. Groups may be organized around identity, experience, or therapeutic goals, offering compassionate support for mutual witnessing and growth.
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Liberation/Abolition-Based Therapy
Anti-oppressive therapy centers the impact of systemic oppression and collective liberation in the therapeutic process. Rooted in abolitionist and decolonial thought, our psychotherapists work to co-create healing that resists carceral, medicalized, and colonized models of mental health.
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Mindfulness-Based Therapy
Grounded in presence and awareness, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) invites clients to observe thoughts and feelings without judgment. We incorporate breathwork, grounding, and body-based practices to support regulation, clarity, and a deeper connection to self.
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Narrative Therapy
Narrative therapy celebrates you as the author of your own story. Together, we explore the dominant narratives shaping your identity and develop alternative stories that reflect your strengths, resilience, and values, especially when shaped by marginalization.
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Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy & Integration
Our Chicago psychotherapists offer ketamine-assisted therapy and integration support for clients seeking expanded approaches to healing. Our clinicians provide careful preparation, in-session support, and post-session integration—honoring each client’s inner wisdom throughout the process.
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Solution-Focused Therapy (SFBT)
SFBT emphasizes strengths, present-moment change, and future-oriented goals. At The Hinterlands, we use goal-oriented therapy to uplift autonomy and self-trust, enabling clients to identify what’s working and build toward desired outcomes on their terms.
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Couples & Polycule Therapy
We offer affirming relational therapy for couples and polycules of all configurations. Our clinical therapists support communication, repair, boundary-setting, and the complexities of intimacy across diverse relational structures—including queer, kink, and non-monogamous dynamics.
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Somatic Experiencing & Somatic Touch Work
Somatic therapy supports healing through the body. We gently guide clients to notice and process stored trauma and dysregulation through sensation, movement, and—when appropriate and consented to—therapeutic touch. Our somatic therapists always center bodily autonomy and safety.
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Therapeutic Gardening
Therapeutic gardening offers clients a grounded, hands-on way to connect with nature, cycles of growth, and embodied care. Whether indoors or outdoors, this modality supports healing through slowness, stewardship, and a reciprocal relationship with the land.
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Family Therapy
Our licensed family therapists work with families of origin and choice to address conflict, improve communication, and break cycles of intergenerational harm. Our approach centers collective care and cultural context, recognizing the shifting nature of what “family” can mean.
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Therapeutic Fiber-Arts
We integrate fiber arts practices such as knitting, weaving, and embroidery into therapy for clients seeking embodied, creative expression. These tactile processes can support nervous system regulation, emotional processing, and reclaiming ancestral or cultural craft.
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Areas of Clinical Specialty
LGBTQIA+: We offer affirming care for the LGBTQIA+ community. Our queer therapists are trained to support you in navigating identity development, discrimination, dysphoria, coming out, building chosen family, and other unique experiences queer folks face.
ENM/Poly Folks: Our clinical therapists understand the relational dynamics of ethical non-monogamy and polyamory. Whether you’re exploring new structures, navigating relationship transitions, or confronting systemic stigma, we offer nonjudgmental support grounded in consent, autonomy, and communication.
BDSM/Kink Community: The Hinterlands affirms kink as a valid form of identity, intimacy, and expression. Our kink-aware therapists have extensive experience working with individuals and relationships within BDSM and fetish communities, without pathologizing your practices.
Immigrants/Refugees: We provide culturally responsive care for immigrants, refugees, and first-generation individuals. Whether you're coping with displacement, intergenerational trauma, or life in diaspora, our therapists meet you with care, dignity, and deep listening.
Substance Use: We support clients experiencing substance use challenges with harm reduction, compassion, and curiosity. Whether you're seeking sobriety, moderation, or insight into your relationship with substances, we work without shame or coercion.
Chronic Illness/HIV: We understand the emotional, social, and systemic impacts of living with chronic illness and HIV. At The Hinterlands, we support your autonomy, body sovereignty, and care needs, without minimizing your experiences.
Autism/ADHD/Neuroqueer: We affirm neurodivergence as natural human variation. Whether you identify as autistic, have ADHD, or connect with the neuroqueer identity, we provide therapy that respects your sensory needs, communication style, and authenticity.
Multi-Cultural/Mixed-Race: The Hinterlands honors the complexity of navigating multiple cultural identities. Our BIPOC therapists are experienced in supporting mixed-race and multicultural folks as they explore belonging, identity formation, and cultural dissonance.
Artists/Performers/Craftsfolk: Many of our psychotherapists have backgrounds in the arts and performance. We support creatives navigating the emotional demands of artistic life, including burnout, impostor syndrome, performance-related stress, creative blocks, and more.
Religious/Spiritual Trauma: We offer compassionate care for those recovering from religious and spiritual trauma. Whether you're unpacking coercion, shame, disconnection, or seeking a new relationship to spirituality, we create space for grief, reclamation, and redefinition.
Parenting: We support caregivers through the complexities of parenting, including identity shifts, intergenerational trauma, co-parenting dynamics, and raising neurodivergent kids. Our clinical therapists can help you parent with presence and clarity.
Educators: We understand the emotional labor of teaching and educational work. Whether you're facing burnout, navigating systemic barriers, or seeking support as a mentor or leader, we create space for educators to be fully human.
Activists: We hold space for those engaged in justice work. Whether you're confronting burnout, grief, moral injury, or seeking accountability and restoration, our Chicago therapists understand activism as both a source of pain and a site of healing.
Mad/Crip Folks: We serve Mad/Crip folks who need clinical documentation and therapy services, but wish to limit exposure and interference from medical systems. Our disability-affirming therapists provide care rooted in autonomy and resistance to psychiatric pathologization.
What to Expect
No two clinical therapy sessions look the same. We begin by understanding your biography, culture, neurotype, and temperament. Together, we’ll identify your goals for seeking support, potential challenges that may arise, and the therapeutic approach that best aligns with your needs. Clinical therapy is just one tool in a larger journey toward wellness. Environment, identity, systems, and culture all shape our work together. Exploring these elements can be joyful, meaningful, and even fun.
Your first therapy appointment is a space for mutual discovery. You’ll get to know your therapist as much as they’ll be getting to know you. By the end of the session, we’ll discuss whether and how to move forward together. We’ll also review scheduling, payment, and office policies. Our goal is to help you feel at ease and begin a process of deeper connection with yourself and your community.
FAQs
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Clinical therapy is provided by licensed mental health professionals and may include diagnosis, documentation, and the use of insurance. It’s appropriate for those who are living with mental health diagnoses, need formal letters or records, or prefer a more structured therapeutic approach. Non-clinical support, such as our peer-support services, is facilitated by experienced guides who are not therapists and do not provide medical care. Peer-support may be a better fit if you don’t want a diagnosis or formal treatment, don’t need insurance coverage, or want to avoid documentation with outside systems. Many people choose peer-support alongside clinical therapy or as a standalone resource. Learn more about Peer-Support at The Hinterlands »
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You don’t have to figure it out alone. In your first therapy session, your psychotherapist will work collaboratively with you to understand your goals, preferences, and any past experiences with clinical therapy. From there, you’ll craft a plan that may include one or more modalities, ranging from talk-based approaches like CBT or Narrative Therapy to body-based or experiential work like Somatic Experiencing or Therapeutic Gardening.
Every therapist at The Hinterlands brings unique skills and lived experience to their work, and we’ll help you find the approach that best supports your healing, identity, and capacity. -
The psychotherapists at The Hinterlands are in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO and Aetna. We are out-of-network with all other insurance providers, including Medicaid and Medicare. Payment is due at the time of service.
If you're using out-of-network benefits, we’re happy to provide monthly superbills and statements to support your reimbursement process. We accept HSA cards, Zelle, and all major credit cards for payment.
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We offer a range of cash-pay options, including sliding scale therapy sessions. These rates are based on therapist availability and the type of treatment, and typically range from $25 to the full session fee.
Sliding scale slots are limited and tend to fill quickly. During your intake call, you can ask your therapist whether they currently have siding scale availability.