Family Therapy
At The Hinterlands, we offer inclusive family therapy for families of origin, chosen families, and those seeking blended family therapy. Whether you're navigating conflict, adjusting to new family structures, or working to heal intergenerational wounds, our therapists support your family in building trust, improving communication, and fostering deeper connection.
We approach family therapy through a lens of collective care, cultural humility, and systemic awareness. We recognize that “family” can take many forms and that every relationship is shaped by unique histories, identities, and environments. Our goal isn’t to “fix” individuals, but to support the relational ecosystem as a whole with curiosity and compassion.
We currently offer virtual family therapy in Illinois and Connecticut. In-person sessions are offered at our office in Irving Park, Chicago, and hybrid family therapy sessions are also available to support your family's accessibility and scheduling needs.
Areas of Clinical Specialty
LGBTQIA+: We offer affirming care for queer and trans families, chosen families, and families navigating gender and sexual identity across generations. Our LGBTQIA+ family therapy services support you in addressing identity development, coming out, family acceptance, internalized shame, and the joys and complexities of building chosen kinship structures.
ENM/Poly Folks: We understand the evolving dynamics of polyamorous families and ethically non-monogamous households. Whether you’re raising children in a polycule, navigating co-parenting across households, or managing multiple relationship configurations, we offer therapy grounded in communication, consent, and care.
BDSM/Kink Community: At The Hinterlands, we affirm kink as a valid expression of identity and intimacy. We support families and partnerships where BDSM and kink are part of the relational landscape without shame, pathologization, or judgment. Therapy may focus on communication, disclosure, boundaries, or navigating external stigma.
Immigrants/Refugees: We provide culturally responsive care for immigrant and refugee families, including intergenerational households and first-generation children. Whether you're coping with displacement, cultural adaptation, trauma, or navigating the complexities of bicultural identity, our therapists meet your family with respect and deep listening.
Substance Use: We support families impacted by substance use with a focus on harm-reduction and relational healing. Whether your family is facing active use, seeking recovery, or unpacking historical impact, we center compassion and autonomy in the therapeutic process.
Chronic Illness/HIV: Living with chronic illness or HIV can shape family roles, communication, and support needs. We work with families to navigate grief, resilience, medical systems, and shifting dynamics while honoring the autonomy and lived experience of each family member.
Autism/ADHD/Neuroqueer: We affirm neurodivergence as natural human variation. Whether you're parenting a neurodivergent child, navigating diagnosis across generations, or unlearning ableist patterns within the family system, our therapists support communication and authentic self-expression.
Multi-Cultural/Mixed-Race: We honor the complexity of living across cultures and identities. We offer BIPOC family therapy to support mixed-race and multicultural families in exploring belonging, cultural difference, intergenerational values, and the nuanced negotiations of identity in family life.
Artists/Performers/Craftsfolk: We work with families of artists, performers, and craftsfolk who may be navigating the unique emotional and logistical realities of creative life. Whether you're balancing creative work with caregiving, struggling with instability, or supporting a young artist, we hold space for creative expression and relational care.
Religious/Spiritual Trauma: We support families and individuals healing from religious or spiritual harm, including those deconstructing inherited belief systems. Therapy may focus on restoring trust, processing grief, or navigating new boundaries and identities around spirituality or faith.
Parenting: We support caregivers through the joys and challenges of raising children, including identity shifts, intergenerational trauma, co-parenting after separation, or parenting neurodivergent or LGBTQIA+ kids. Therapy provides a space to reconnect with your values and show up more fully for your children and yourself.
Educators: Families with educators face unique emotional demands, whether they’re supporting a teacher in the household, navigating school systems, or managing burnout. We create space for educators and their families to feel seen, heard, and supported.
Activists: Activism can be a powerful force for connection—and also a source of grief, burnout, and moral complexity. We work with families engaged in justice work to process intergenerational trauma, support each other’s values, and find rest and restoration together.
Mad/Crip Folks: We provide disability-affirming family therapy for Mad/Crip clients and their loved ones seeking support without psychiatric coercion. Whether you’re navigating care needs, parenting from a Mad/Crip lens, or resisting pathologizing frameworks, we offer support grounded in autonomy, collective care, and deep respect for your lived experience.
What to Expect
No two family therapy sessions look the same. We begin by understanding your family’s unique dynamics, including personal biographies, cultural backgrounds, neurotypes, communication styles, and temperaments. Together, we’ll identify shared goals, explore individual needs, and name the patterns or challenges that brought you to therapy. Family therapy is one tool in a broader journey toward collective wellness. Identity, environment, power, and history all shape how your family shows up and how healing can unfold. Exploring these elements can be challenging, meaningful, and even joyful.
Your first family therapy appointment is a space for mutual discovery. Your therapist will get to know each family member, and you'll get to know them too. By the session’s end, we’ll discuss whether and how to move forward together. We’ll also review scheduling, payment, and practice policies. Our goal is to help your family feel supported, seen, and ready to begin a process of deeper connection with yourselves and each other.
Family Therapy FAQs
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Family therapy can be helpful anytime your relationships feel strained, stuck, or disconnected—whether you're navigating ongoing conflict, life transitions, communication breakdowns, grief, or generational trauma. You don’t have to be in crisis to benefit. If you're noticing recurring tension, feeling unheard or unsupported, or want to strengthen connection and understanding, therapy can offer a structured, compassionate space to do that work together. We also support families navigating identity exploration, parenting challenges, blended family dynamics, and chosen family restructuring.
If you’re unsure, we’re happy to schedule a consultation to help you explore whether family therapy is a good fit for your needs. -
Each family therapy session is tailored to your family’s needs, dynamics, and goals. Early sessions focus on building safety and rapport, clarifying what each member hopes to get out of therapy, and understanding the broader systems that shape your relationships. Sessions might include shared conversations, skill-building, reflective exercises, or exploring past experiences that impact present-day patterns.
Depending on your needs, sessions may include everyone at once or rotate between different combinations of family members.
We offer online family therapy, in-person family therapy in Chicago, and hybrid family therapy—whatever best supports your family’s comfort. Our goal is to create a space where all members feel respected, heard, and empowered to grow both individually and together. -
The family therapists 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 are committed to providing affordable family therapy to our community. 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 sliding scale availability.