Centered Therapy Chicago

10/20/2026

Have you ever left a session feeling frustrated, stuck, overwhelmed, or uncertain of yourself as a therapist?

Our emotional and physiological responses can offer valuable insight into ourselves, our clients, and the therapeutic relationship. Yet when those responses bring up self-doubt or questions about our effectiveness, it can be difficult to recognize their clinical value.

Join Bianka Hardin, PsyD, SEP, NARM Master Therapist, for a special in-person workshop: The Therapist's Experience Matters: Using Somatic Wisdom and Countertransference to Deepen Clinical Insight and Strengthen Self-trust

This interactive, experiential workshop invites clinicians to bring their own challenging therapeutic moments into a supportive learning environment. Through guided reflection, somatic practices, and collaborative consultation, participants will explore countertransference with curiosity and self-compassion, strengthening clinical insight and trust in themselves as therapists.

View Full Course Description & Register: https://ctctrainingcenter.thinkific.com/courses/the-therapists-experience-2026

We are committed to increasing access to training whenever possible. Student discounts, group rates, and a limited number of reduced-fee registrations are available. Please contact us for more information.

10/12/2026

Welcome, Andrea!

We're so excited to welcome Andrea Dosen, MA, SEP, IMHP to Centered Therapy Chicago!

Andrea is a warm, experienced therapist who believes in treating the whole person and honoring the connection between mind, body, emotions, and relationships. She works with children, adults, families, trauma survivors, first responders, and helping professionals and brings a compassionate, collaborative approach to her work.

As a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), Andrea helps clients understand how stress, trauma, and life experiences can impact both emotional and physical well-being. She is passionate about helping people reconnect with themselves, develop greater resilience, and move toward healing and growth.

We're delighted to welcome Andrea to our team and are excited for the many clients and families who will benefit from her care.

Welcome, Andrea! 💜

10/10/2026

We're excited to welcome Dr. Jillian Gomez, PsyD (she/her) to the Centered Therapy Chicago team!

Jillian brings warmth, authenticity, and a deeply relational approach to her work with adolescents and adults. She specializes in anxiety, ADHD/AuADHD, eating disorders, identity exploration, substance use, relationship concerns, and trauma, including developmental, intergenerational, and complex trauma.

Her clinical experience spans community mental health, private practice, inpatient and intensive outpatient settings, and juvenile justice programs. Jillian is passionate about creating an affirming, culturally responsive space where clients can explore their experiences with curiosity, self-compassion, and connection.

Please join us in giving Jillian a warm welcome to CTC!

09/28/2026

We’re excited to welcome Pallavi Parida, PsyD, to Centered Therapy Chicago.
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Pallavi brings a warm, compassionate presence to her work and is deeply attuned to the ways culture, identity, relationships, and intergenerational experiences shape our lives and well-being.
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As an American-born South Asian woman and child of immigrants, Pallavi is dedicated to providing culturally responsive care. She views therapy as a collaborative process and helps clients better understand themselves, recognize their strengths, and move toward lives that feel more meaningful and aligned with what matters to them.
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Pallavi works with adolescents and adults, with particular interest in supporting immigrants and first-generation Americans, BIPOC clients, young professionals, graduate students, trauma survivors, and people beginning therapy for the first time.
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Her work draws from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), multicultural, relational, and body-based approaches, allowing her to tailor therapy to each client and the experiences they bring into the room.
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Pallavi is currently accepting new clients! Learn more about Pallavi and get started by visiting this link:
https://www.centeredtherapychicago.com/our-therapists/pallavi-parida/

09/24/2026

Therapist, join us Monday for Renewal and Restoration!

Meaningful community often begins with a small act of care.

About a year and a half ago, Bridget Porterfield (she/her) approached me with the desire to support community during difficulty. She saw how much therapists hold for others and wondered how she might support the people doing that work.

What started as a conversation about "doing something" has grown into Renewal & Restoration, a free yoga and networking event for therapists. This will be our 3rd offering!

I love this example because it's easy to assume that building community requires a large organization, a big budget, or a grand plan. Often, it starts with one person recognizing a need, extending an invitation, and being willing to show up.

Bridget is generously donating her time. Centered Studios Yoga & Wellness is opening its doors. Centered Therapy Chicago is helping spread the word. Small contributions from different people coming together to create something meaningful.

In a profession where we spend so much time caring for others, I believe these moments of connection, restoration, and community matter. Through this event, I have already developed new and meaningful relationships and connections!

Thank you, Bridget, for your vision, generosity, and commitment to supporting those who support others. I'm looking forward to being together with you and therapists in our community later this month.

Register here: https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/ws?studioid=223527&sclassid=1052&sDate=9/28/2026&sLoc=1&sTG=38&sType=1

If you're a therapist and would like to join us, we'd love to see you there. 💜


If you're a therapist and would like to join us, we'd love to see you there. 💜

09/14/2026

One of the ideas that stood out to me about our upcoming training with Akilah Riley-Richardson is the notion that sometimes we're not just working with two people in a relationship.

We're also working with the systems surrounding them.

Racism. Homophobia. Transphobia. Immigration-related stress. Religious rejection. The cumulative impact of navigating spaces where parts of oneself may not feel fully welcomed or safe.

These experiences don't stay outside the therapy room. They often show up in conflict, intimacy, communication, trust, and emotional safety.

Yet many clinicians were never explicitly taught how to recognize and work with these dynamics.

That's one of the reasons I'm looking forward to Holding Love in Hostile Systems: Therapy with Marginalized Couples.

If you've ever sensed that "something bigger" was influencing a couple's interactions but struggled to find language or a framework for understanding it, I hope you'll join us!

We are thrilled to partner with Counseling Solutions in offering 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀
Presented by Akilah Riley-Richardson, MSW, CCTP, founder of the Relational Healing Institute.

Couples from marginalized communities often navigate the impacts of systemic trauma, discrimination, and social marginalization alongside the challenges within their relationships. Yet these larger forces are not always fully addressed within traditional couples therapy models.

In this virtual training, participants will be introduced to a liberatory, trauma-informed framework that integrates systemic awareness with relational practice, helping clinicians better understand and support the ways hostile systems affect connection, conflict, emotional safety, and healing.

Whether you work with couples or individuals, this training offers valuable perspectives for bringing greater cultural responsiveness and systemic awareness into your clinical work.

Registration and more info: https://www.centeredtherapychicago.com/training/therapy-with-marginalized-couples/

08/31/2026

We are thrilled to partner with Counseling Solutions in offering 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀
Presented by Akilah Riley-Richardson, MSW, CCTP, founder of the Relational Healing Institute.

Couples from marginalized communities often navigate the impacts of systemic trauma, discrimination, and social marginalization alongside the challenges within their relationships. Yet these larger forces are not always fully addressed within traditional couples therapy models.

In this virtual training, participants will be introduced to a liberatory, trauma-informed framework that integrates systemic awareness with relational practice, helping clinicians better understand and support the ways hostile systems affect connection, conflict, emotional safety, and healing.

Whether you work with couples or individuals, this training offers valuable perspectives for bringing greater cultural responsiveness and systemic awareness into your clinical work.

Registration and more info: https://www.centeredtherapychicago.com/training/therapy-with-marginalized-couples/

08/12/2026

We’re excited to welcome Victoria Wee, PhD, to the Centered Therapy Chicago team!
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Victoria works with adults and emerging adults and is especially interested in supporting people of color, immigrants and refugees, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and first-generation students and professionals.
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As a first-generation college student and child of immigrants, Victoria brings a personal commitment to accessible, culturally responsive mental health care. She approaches each client with attention to the many experiences, identities, relationships, hopes,
and values that shape their lives.
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Victoria believes trust in therapy is earned. She brings genuineness, curiosity, humor, and radical acceptance to her work.
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Grounded in feminist, humanistic, and evidence-based approaches, Victoria recognizes that many of the concerns people bring to therapy are understandable responses to trauma, difficult relationships, oppressive systems, and efforts to survive. She has extensive
experience supporting clients navigating complex trauma, including developmental, relational, racial, discrimination-based, and military sexual trauma. In addition, she is experienced in using CBT-I to support individuals struggling with insomnia.
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Outside of work, Victoria enjoys indoor rock climbing, audiobooks, arts and crafts, and exploring Chicago in search of a great black sesame latte.
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Victoria is currently accepting new clients. You can learn more about Victoria here:
https://tinyurl.com/2e8ytrd5

07/20/2026

We’re excited to welcome Adam Maughan, Ph.D. (he/him) to our team!
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Adam is a q***r, neurodivergent psychologist who takes a trauma-informed, relational approach to therapy. He works with adults and young adults navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, identity concerns, emotional overwhelm, and relationship struggles, and is especially passionate about working with LGBTQ+ clients and trauma survivors. 
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 Adam helps clients make sense of the stories and survival strategies that have shaped them while also supporting them in building healthier, more authentic ways of living and connecting. His style is warm, collaborative, and genuine, helping you to recognize and build upon your own strengths. 
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Adam is currently accepting new clients. Learn more about him here:
https://www.centeredtherapychicago.com/our-therapists/adam-maughan/

06/25/2026

I’m grateful to share this powerful piece by Jagroop Singh, MA, exploring the often unseen layers of grief connected to immigration and pregnancy loss.

In “Unseen Sorrows: The Hidden Grief of Immigration and Pregnancy Loss,” Jagroop brings heartfelt clarity to ambiguous and disenfranchised grief—experiences that are deeply real, yet frequently overlooked.

If you’ve ever held a loss that others couldn’t fully see or understand, this piece may resonate. I encourage you to take a few minutes to read and reflect.

By Jagroop Singh, MA Grief does not always look the way we expect it to. Some losses are visible and supported, while others are carried quietly and alone. There are...