Starks Therapy Group

Starks Therapy Group We are a counseling practice serving teens and adults. We offer individual and family therapy with a

THERAPISTS ONLY / Next session coming up quick, newcomers deadline to reach out: Tuesday, September 8. More info at ket...
09/01/2026

THERAPISTS ONLY / Next session coming up quick, newcomers deadline to reach out: Tuesday, September 8. More info at ketaminecollective.org 💫

A psychedelic-friendly therapist Meet Up 🍷💫 Thursday, Oct 15, 7:00 pm💫 For therapists and prescribers💫 At Starks Therapy...
08/31/2026

A psychedelic-friendly therapist Meet Up 🍷

💫 Thursday, Oct 15, 7:00 pm
💫 For therapists and prescribers
💫 At Starks Therapy Group, 1040 North Blvd, Ste 225, Oak Park

RSVP to [email protected]

Chicago Minds "The Pearls of KAP" workshop💫 Saturday, October 3, 10:30-12:30pm💫 In person at Chicago Minds 💫 CEs provide...
08/31/2026

Chicago Minds "The Pearls of KAP" workshop

💫 Saturday, October 3, 10:30-12:30pm
💫 In person at Chicago Minds
💫 CEs provided

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES:
- Describe the basic neurobiological mechanisms of ketamine and its therapeutic effects
- Differentiate between common ketamine delivery methods and their clinical implications
- Identify appropriate candidates and contraindications for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy
- Explain the roles of preparation, dosing sessions, and integration in the KAP process
- Recognize key safety considerations and risk mitigation strategies
- Understand the structure of a collaborative care model between therapist and medical provider
- Evaluate when referral for ketamine therapy may be appropriate within their practice

Autumn Starks, LCSW; Richard Clark, CRNA, APRN are certified in Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy through Integrative Psychiatry Institute.

Register through Chicago Minds: www.chicagominds.co (not .com)

💫💫💫

BONUS EVENT: A psychedelic-friendly therapist meet up: Thursday, Oct 15, 7:00 pm. Join us for an evening to connect. RSVP or Qs, email [email protected].

Villains, Not Coherence: Why We Can't Sit With ComplexityWhat do the Lindsay Clancy trial and a viral tradwife satire no...
08/27/2026

Villains, Not Coherence: Why We Can't Sit With Complexity

What do the Lindsay Clancy trial and a viral tradwife satire novel have in common? More than you'd think.

This week, two seemingly unrelated stories — a real courtroom tragedy and a buzzy new book club pick called Yesteryear — surfaced the same uncomfortable truth: we, as a society, have lost our capacity to hold complexity. We want villains. We want monsters. We want a tidy narrative we can consume from a safe emotional distance, complete with hot takes and comment-section verdicts.

But real people — even people who do unthinkable things — are rarely just one thing.

As live-streamed court proceedings and algorithm-fed headlines turn a mother's mental health crisis into entertainment, this post asks a harder question: what if the line between "relatable" and "monstrous" is thinner than we want to admit? What if understanding how someone got somewhere doesn't mean excusing what they did once they arrived?

The piece also digs into Yesteryear, the much-discussed novel about a tradwife influencer who wakes up in 1855 — arguing that its protagonist reads less like satire and more like an accidental case study in clinical narcissism colliding with religious fundamentalism. What happens when a personality structure built on superiority collides with a culture that demands humility and self-erasure? According to this post: something has to break.

Both threads circle the same idea — that our discomfort with nuance isn't just a media problem, it's a us problem. We stop making meaning right at the point where understanding starts to feel like it might implicate us, too. "That could have been me" is a hard sentence to sit with. It's also, this post argues, the only honest one.

This isn't a defense of harm. It's an argument that compassion and consequence aren't opposites — and that the work of seeing others in their full, uncomfortable complexity is ultimately protective, not permissive. It makes us safer with the people we actually live and work alongside, not just safer from headline-grabbing tragedies.

A meditation on postpartum mental health, religious fundamentalism, narcissism, true crime consumption, and why nobody — not Lindsay Clancy, not Natalie from Yesteryear, not you — is "all villain nor all victim."

For full blog read, go to www.starkstherapygroup.com/blog

If you've heard the term "ketamine therapy" and weren't sure what to make of it, you're not alone. Most people associate...
08/21/2026

If you've heard the term "ketamine therapy" and weren't sure what to make of it, you're not alone. Most people associate ketamine with anesthesia — and they're not wrong. But over the past decade, ketamine has emerged as one of the most promising tools in mental health treatment, particularly for people who haven't found lasting relief through traditional therapy or medication alone.

WHAT MAKES KETAMINE DIFFERENT?
Unlike most psychiatric medications, ketamine works quickly and creates a temporary altered state that allows people to step outside their usual patterns of thinking. At the doses used in KAP, it isn't sedating — it's opening. Many people describe a sense of distance from the inner critic, the rumination, the emotional walls that typically make difficult feelings so hard to approach.

That window, brief as it is, can make space for something that often takes years to access in traditional therapy.

WHO IS KAP FOR?
Ketamine has a well-established safety profile and is compatible with many psychiatric medications, including SSRIs — which removes barriers that often prevent people from accessing psychedelic-assisted therapy. It's shown particular promise for treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, anxiety, chronic pain, and grief.

It isn't right for everyone. But for many people, it becomes a turning point — not because it erases what's hard, but because it offers a new vantage point from which to meet it.

CURIOUS WHETHER KAP MIGHT BE A FIT?
Reach out anytime. There's no pressure, and questions are always welcome.

Learn more about Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy at Starks Therapy Group, serving Oak Park and the greater Chicago area.

OUR DOOR IS OPEN || Monday, Aug 31 from noon-1pm drop by and ask your question about ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. Au...
08/13/2026

OUR DOOR IS OPEN || Monday, Aug 31 from noon-1pm drop by and ask your question about ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. Autumn Starks, LCSW and Richard Clark, CRNA, APRN are both Certified Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Providers through the Integrative Psychiatry Institute, have done CE workshops at Chicago Minds, appeared on podcasts, done trainings for private practice staff, and worked together offering this beautiful, but sometimes still mysterious and misrepresented work, for years together. They partner at both Starks Therapy Group in Oak Park and Ayafusion Ketamine Clinic in Downers Grove. Join them on Google Meet on Aug 31, or send your questions ahead of time and they will answer and send you the recording. RSVP (free) to [email protected] ⭐️ and share with a colleague 💫

Ketamine Collective is a monthly gathering for therapists to experience ketamine for themselves in a safe, legal and sup...
08/06/2026

Ketamine Collective is a monthly gathering for therapists to experience ketamine for themselves in a safe, legal and supported environment

It is specifically designed for therapists who are committed to their own healing work. By offering this in a group setting, we’re making ketamine therapy more accessible, sustainable, and community-driven.

NEXT CYCLE DATES
Preparation: Sept 14* & 21
Experiential: Sept 26
Integration: Sept 28
*Deadline to sign up: Sept 8

Curious? Visit ketaminecollective.org 💫
And share with that friend or colleague who comes to mind.

Meet Patrick — Certified Coach & Parent Coaching Specialist 👨‍👩‍👧Raising kids who thrive doesn't happen by accident. Pat...
08/02/2026

Meet Patrick — Certified Coach & Parent Coaching Specialist 👨‍👩‍👧

Raising kids who thrive doesn't happen by accident. Patrick has coached hundreds of parents, raised two kids of his own, and created tools like the Growth Mindset Parenting video series and his book, Red Zone Fathering: 48 Plays Great Fathers Make — all to help parents build stronger relationships and confident, capable kids.

But his coaching doesn't stop at parenting. Feeling stuck? Ready for a fresh start? Patrick helps you move forward with clarity, structure, and encouragement in every area of life.

As a Professional Certified Coach (ICF-PCC) and Highlands Ability Battery specialist, he helps you identify your natural strengths — what comes easier, faster, more naturally — so you can work with them instead of against them.

He works with individuals, students, couples, and parents on:
👨‍👩‍👧 Parent coaching
🎯 Career clarity and direction
🧠 Growth mindset
✅ Positive, sustainable habits
📚 Student coaching

His approach blends heart and strategy — time management, breaking free from procrastination and perfectionism, and creating clear expectations in relationships. Drawing on years of experience (and wisdom from Stephen Covey and David Allen), Patrick helps you take practical, measurable steps toward lasting change.

Tools. Accountability. Encouragement. Ready for an upgrade — in your parenting, mindset, or habits? Patrick would be honored to work with you. 💪

Address

1040 North Boulevard
Oak Park, IL
60301

Telephone

+17086893055

Website

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