Find a Therapist in Darien, Illinois.

Clients who work with me can expect a supportive, down-to-earth space where they feel heard, understood, and respected. Together, we’ll work toward gaining insight, developing healthier coping strategies, improving communication, and building stronger relationships—with others and with yourself. Whether you’re facing anxiety, depression, addiction, grief, or relationship challenges, therapy with me is focused on helping you make meaningful, lasting changes so you can feel more confident, connected, and in control of your life.

Psychotherapy is a powerful process that helps you understand yourself, heal emotional wounds, and move forward with purpose. Whether you're facing anxiety, relationship struggles, or simply want to grow, I provide a supportive and collaborative space where you’ll be empowered to make lasting change. Together, we’ll identify goals, build insights, and strengthen your emotional resilience.

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.

"Psychotherapy is the informed and intentional application of clinical methods and interpersonal stances derived from established psychological principles for the purpose of assisting people to modify their behaviors, cognitions, emotions, and/or other personal characteristics in directions that the participants deem desirable" (Norcross, 1990, p. 218-220 ) We use Freudian-based theories, object relations, attachment theories and self-psychology to assist our clients in identifying and understanding the underlying issues that may color their current relationships.

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.

Psychotherapy is the process of talk therapy using a variety of treatment approaches to treat mental health concerns. While some therapy sessions can be more short term to deal with a specific concern, psychotherapy is typically a longer term process. The process includes helping the client understand their mental illness or reasons behind why they are having the troubles they are facing. Then using a variety of therapeutic techniques to help treat the symptoms and create healthier coping skills.

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 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.

Psychotherapy - for those willing to take the journey - can be one of the most amazing experiences we do in life. When a person gets insight into their own psychological processes, and achieves that understanding of how it all comes together and interacts on a psychological level, it can be really empowering, liberating, and exciting. This can also be a bit scary to try because usually there is a lot going on before someone decides to find a therapist. But any journey starts with that first step - and that first step can be a great step.

With every client, I strive to create an accepting, empathic, and warm environment while building a strong rapport. Building a strong rapport and therapeutic alliance is a top priority of mine while accurately and empathically supporting the client and creating a treatment plan. Under my care and support, you will feel heard, understood, and advocated for.

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!!)

Home Psych Services, P.C. provides comprehensive psychotherapy services - individual, family, and couples counseling - in the comfort, safety, and convenience of your own home. We believe that this type of psychotherapy - delivered directly in your home where your problems often started in the first place - is the most effective form of treatment. Our therapeutic style tends to be solution-focused - focused on accomplishing well-defined goals. We also utilize social work services to connect our clients with resources in the community to address all aspects of your presenting problems.