Find a Therapist in Carol Stream, Illinois.

Psychotherapy is the use of psychological methods to help a person change behavior and overcome problems in a positive manner. Its aim is to help people understand the thoughts behind feeling anxious or depressed and addressing these thinking patterns. Psychotherapy will help you change behaviors and habits that are limiting you, to experiencing your fullest potential.

Our focus with respect to psychotherapy involves utilizing a solution-focused brief therapy model. This model centers on identifying and building upon the client's strengths and desired future state, rather than dwelling on the problem itself; this includes techniques like asking future-oriented questions, exploring exceptions to the problem, and actively collaborating with the client to set realistic purpose driven goals.

I am trained in a variety of traditional and non-traditional treatment methods that I integrate in a holistic approach to psychotherapy. While grounded in scientifically proven methods such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, I also integrate with treatment methods such as Positive Psychology which emphasizes the development of strengths over targeting weaknesses, and hypnotherapy approaches that incorporate subconscious and body-based processes.

Kari Hunter has provided psychotherapy for individuals, couples and families for over 25 years. She offers many types of psychotherapy for problems such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, child and adolescent problems, and relationship struggles. Psychotherapy today incorporates our knowledge about brain science and behavioral change. Evidence from research has led to development of treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness strategies, and many types of Marital and Family Therapy.

Psychotherapy is an effective way to gain insights, find hope, and get support. My approach is to demystify the psychotherapy experience. I am down to earth and like to provide support while also teaching you new skills and ideas to use in your life. It's not just talk therapy with me. In addition to processing stressors in your life I will also provide you with new real world tools to use.

I believe that you are the expert of your lived experience. I’m not going to tell you what to feel or how to process it. I am here to guide you and listen to what you need. As your therapist, I am here to both empathize and challenge you, while still meeting you where you are what. I will actively listen to you and create a space of compassion and safety. I will also help challenge you whether that be challenging self-defeating thoughts or helping you identify actions you can take to help yourself grow.

We can work together to develop a game plan to help you to to accomplish your goals for our work together. This will include decisions about how frequently to meet (example: once or twice weekly), your specific goals (and what will be different when the issue is resolved), options for working towards your goals, and what specific strategies you would like to use (I can suggest a variety of them for you - for example, perhaps you are interested in mindfulness, meditation, or laughter yoga!!)

In psychotherapy, you will start to more deeply understand your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors with a guide--your psychologist. What I often hear from the clients I meet is, "Wow, I never looked at my mother like that!" or "I guess it makes sense that I would react that way to my son, just like my father did with me." I help you turn yourself inside out & your world upside down so that you can see & experience your life differently, now.

Processing and talking about emotions and thought processes is how change and healing begins for it actually changes neuro pathways in the brain. I have been providing a safe place for clients to process through their darkest fears since 1996. My clients describe me as direct and to the point, yet compassionate and easy to open up to. They also find that I am able to take the complexities in life and make them easy to understand so that they can start making changes to get back to the life they desire.

Psychotherapy helps you to tap into your inner-most feelings and subconscious thoughts that control social/emotional behavior. Psychotherapy techniques will help you to identify and cope with challenges that keep you from realizing the life you idealize. Therapeutic techniques may include, but are not limited to, the client expressing any thoughts and feelings without censorship (free association) or analyzing dreams for meaning. In doing so, the client will gain self-awareness necessary to promote healthy personality and behavior changes.

Being properly diagnosis is the first order of business. Feeling comfortable with your therapist is also very important. Having clear and concise goals for psychotherapy helps both the client and therapist stay on course and ensure a successful outcome in a time frame that allows for efficient change that is long lasting. Also working in conjunction with medical personal can help better use the therapy process.

I believe our current struggles often have a link to past struggles. I work with clients to understand the both/and. What are the current challenges and struggles that you want to improve or change and in doing that how is it link to the past. In other words what previous distortions or hurts are causing the person current struggles and how to they build current health to grow and heal from previous hurts.