Psychological Services PC

Mental Health Resources

Books

Personal Growth

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

Michael A. Singer

The Four
Agreements

Don Miguel Ruiz

The Gratitude
Diaries

Janice Kaplan

Anger: The Misunderstood
Emotion

Carol Tavris

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

Daniel Goleman

Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow

Elizabeth Lesser

The Gifts of
Imperfection

Brene Brown

When The Body
Says No

Gabor Maté

In The Realm of
Hungry Ghosts

Gabor Maté

Maybe You Should Talk to
Someone

Lori Gottlieb
Grief

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

Pema Chödrön

Lessons of Loss:
A Guide to Coping

Robert A. Neimeyer
Sexual Orientation

The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man's World

Alan Downs Ph.D.
Social Anxiety

Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection

Jia Jiang
Dating

Wired for Dating: How Understanding Neurobiology and Attachment Style Can Help You Find Your Ideal Mate

Stan Tatkin, PsyD, MFT
Intimacy

Mating in Captivity:
Reconciling the
Erotic & the
Domestic

Esther Perel
Parenting

How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7

Joanna Faber and Julie King

How to Be the Parent You Always Wanted to Be (How To Talk)

Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish

How to Get Your Kids to Listen to You: Communicating with Your Toddler, Tween, Teen and Older Children – Know How to Get Through to Your Kids

Jennifer N. Smith

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk

Adele Faber And Elaine Mazlish

How to Talk When Kids Won't Listen: Whining, Fighting, Meltdowns, Defiance, and Other Challenges of Childhood


Joanna Faber And Julie King​

How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & Love Languages of Kids: Practical Survival Guide to Parenting with Love and Logic (Toddlers, Preschoolers, Grade-Schoolers & Teens)

by HealthMedicine Press

The 5 Love Languages of Children: The Secret to Loving Children Effectively


by HealthMedicine Press

How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t with Your Kids: A Practical Guide to Becoming a Calmer, Happier Parent


Carla Naumburg
Couples

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and
How It Can Help You Find - and Keep - Love

Amir Levine and Rachel Heller

The High-Conflict Couple:
A Dialectical Behavior
Therapy Guide to Finding
Peace, Intimacy, and Validation

Alan E. Fruzzetti, PhD

Hold Me Tight:
Seven
Conversations for
a Lifetime of Love

Dr. Sue Johnson EdD

Wired for Love: How Understanding Your Partner's Brain and Attachment Style Can Help You Defuse Conflict and Build a Secure Relationship

Stan Tatkin, PsyD, MFT

The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A Practical Guide from the Country’s Foremost Relationship Expert, Revised and Updated

John M. Gottman, PhD
Career

Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career

Herminia Ibarra

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire
Everyone to Take Action

Simon Sinek
Apps

Relax
Lite with
Andrew Johnson

Videos

Grounding Exercise

What is Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)?

Six Principles For Working With Emotions

Depression & Relationship Difficulties Explained by EFT

Alfred & Shadow: A Short Story about Emotions

Leaves on the Stream

How Does EFT Relate To Mental Health Problems

How Did Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) Come About?

Anxiety (GAD) Explained by Emotion-Focused Therapy

Emotion-Focused Worksheet: Primary Emotion and Adaptive Response

Daniel Lovan

Approach

“I believe that people heal, grow, and thrive when they are able to genuinely connect with someone who makes them feel deeply seen and allows them to explore their emotional needs and desires. That’s why I strive to compassionately understand my clients and provide them with a safe and warm psychotherapy environment where we can collaboratively improve your mental health and well-being.

My Interventions
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT)
• Multicultural Therapy
I address client’s needs through a mix of person centered and cognitive approaches to help clients explore patterns of negative thought, identify core feelings, and practice new coping skills. For many LGBTQ+ clients I also address concerns through a multicultural lens in order to take into account the many ways in which an individual’s intersectional identities may be at odds with living their life authentically.”

Education & Training
• Loyola University Chicago- M.A. Community Counseling
• St. Elizabeth’s Hospital Outpatient Mental Behavioral Health- Internship
• Saint Louis University- B.S. Psychology
I tend to work with adolescents and adults experiencing a wide variety of concerns including depression, anxiety, trauma, loss, parenting concerns, and social struggles. I am particularly passionate about working with LGBTQ+ individuals with religious and spiritual concerns.

Amy Rivas

Qualifications & Training

  • I received my EdS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Loyola University Chicago
  • I received my BS in Psychology from Pacific Union College
  • I am Licensed Professional Counselor with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
  • I am bilingual and conduct therapy in English and Spanish

Who I Work With

I work with adults, couples, and families who are navigating trauma, depression, anxiety, relationship/attachment issues, and life-transitions. I am also passionate working with those in the LGBTQIA+ community, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and bi-cultural/bilingual individuals.
A lot of the clients I work with, whether therapy newcomers or seasons therapy goers, are hoping to carve a dedicated space to gain insight, reflect, and process their reason for seeking therapy.

Working with me

I know for a lot of people the choice to attend therapy can be a difficult one so I will always honor your effort and strength in making this choice. I work from a psychodynamic, attachment based, and also incorporate emotion-focused therapy (EFT) techniques. This basically all means that I like to process past traumas or past relationships to understand how that’s impacting our current way of understanding our world.
You can often find me also incorporating grounding/self-regulation techniques into my sessions with clients as a tool for dysregulation, numbness, and disassociation. I’m a firm believer that our bodies carry our traumas and stress so its important that we incorporate a body-based, somatic techniques to assist with our bodies also healing.

Lilia Berkovich

Dr. Berkovich received her Bachelor’s Degree from Tel-Aviv University in Israel and her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (PsyD) from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to her work at Psychological Services, PC, Dr. Berkovich has worked in medical and psychiatric hospitals, drug and alcohol treatment centers, the juvenile court/probation system, and schools.

My Mission

In my work with clients I rely primarily on relational-psychodynamic, mindbody, and trauma-informed perspectives. I believe that growth and change are achieved by shedding light on those sides of ourselves that we are not in direct contact with, as well as learning new ways of being with others. I strive for therapy to provide a genuine, stimulating, and welcoming space to interact openly and experience new emotions.

Working with me

While I adjust my therapeutic goals to each client’s presenting concerns, goals, and needs, I tend to focus on increasing emotional insight and developing effective internal coping mechanisms. In sessions we might choose to process patterns that show up in the client’s past and present relationships, as well as address the “here-and-now” of the therapy session. I might provide reflections and feedback as a way to help my client see themselves and their situation from a new angle. We may focus on feelings, thoughts, physical experiences, and behaviors, and try to tap into new sources of information about the client’s self. As a multicultural clinician, I recognize the importance of our cultural experiences, and value the exploration of ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, physical ability, and other factors that shape identity and social interactions. As we work toward making everyday experiences less obscure, the client may feel more confident about expressing their true self, form more fulfilling connections with their environment, and find that they are better equipped to cope with distress and painful emotions.

Who I work with

I am a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in working with individuals struggling with trauma, mood dysregulation, overwhelming anxiety, stress-induced somatic symptoms, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, complex grief, substance misuse, and maladaptive interpersonal and relational behaviors. I also work with couples seeking help with relational well-being, communication, and conflict resolution

Michael Bricker

Approach

“I believe each of us is hard-wired with emotions that play an important role in how we understand our world and how we function internally, as well as in our relationships with others. When used adaptively, our emotions can serve to alert and orient us to what is important in our lives and can help inform how we cope with challenges and conflict. In contrast, when we feel stuck in our emotions, lack awareness of them, or are unable to express our feelings and needs, we can feel depressed, anxious or generally unhappy in our life, relationships, and/or career. This lack of clarity can also leave us feeling stranded; struggling to make sense of why we are feeling the way we do or what we need to make things better.
By exploring underlying emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in the context of a warm and empathic relationship, I assist individuals in learning how to use their emotional experience as a guide in recognizing, both generally and specifically, what they need from themselves and from others in order to feel content and resilient. This awareness also plays an integral role in helping them choose behaviors that are more satisfying and accommodating of their needs. In addition, I aim to help clients solidify a long-term framework for understanding how they organize themselves and make sense of their world and relationships, while helping to ensure that they have the tools needed to achieve consistent and lasting improvements in their lives well after therapy has ended.”
 

Dr. Bricker has been providing professional counseling services to individuals, groups, and couples for over 20 years. He earned his Masters degree in Counseling and his PhD in Counseling Psychology from The University of Memphis and holds licensure as a Clinical Psychologist (LCP) in the state of Illinois. 
In addition to his education and training in traditional psychotherapy approaches, Dr. Bricker has sought out specialized education and training in the practice of Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), a scientifically-supported psychotherapy approach for individuals and couples. Dr. Bricker is also an active lecturer and trainer on EFT and the adaptive use of emotion, and enjoys educating other mental health professionals in this area. Dr. Bricker also has extensive education and experience in providing services to couples (working from an Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy framework).  In addition, he has extensive education, training and experience working with individuals with addictions and substance use/abuse concerns.
Although Dr. Bricker’s varied clinical experiences in hospitals, mental health centers, outpatient clinics and counseling centers have prepared him to work with individuals and couples from diverse racial/ethnic/cultural backgrounds, and with wide-ranging concerns/diagnoses, he has developed a particular specialty in areas including: depression, anxiety, couples/relationship concerns, LGBTQ issues, grief/loss, and concerns unique to professionals in various domains who are navigating important roles in leadership and/or demanding careers.  
Dr. Bricker spends the majority of his clinical service providing psychotherapy to individual clients and couples; however, he is experienced in, and available to offer Executive Coaching, as well as organizational and clinical consultation to businesses and individuals.  In addition, he provides supervision and workshops in EFT for mental health professionals.

Outside the office, Dr. Bricker enjoys travel, cooking, attending events in the arts, physical fitness, and spending time with his family and friends.