About

Welcome! My name is Cristina, and I am a bilingual (Spanish) Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Illinois. I am glad that you have been courageous enough to move forward in life and become a better version of yourself. Life is not easy and when we start feeling overwhelmed and or stuck in life for whatever the reason, there is nothing wrong with asking for help. We are not born knowing everything about how to face problems in life. I am here to work alongside your endeavor to find better ways. Whether you have been struggling for a long time with issues of depression, anxiety, PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), low self-esteem, past trauma, mood disorders, relationship issues or at a point in life that you feel unable to deal with your daily stress or dealing with a drastic change in your life, I am here to assist you through it.

In regards to my professional experience, I have been working in the field of mental health for almost 18 years. I have worked for two different state agencies (Department of Children and Family Services and Department of Corrections,) domestic violence shelters locally and abroad at Cape Town, South Africa at a community mental health clinic with dual diagnosis clients who suffered from substance abuse and mental health issues. My experience working in these different places has allowed me to acquire and refine my therapeutic skills in the areas of trauma, mood disorders, relationship issues, parenting issues, personality disorders, domestic violence, PTSD, low self-esteem, and acculturation issues just to mention a few. As an immigrant in this country, I am interested in working with immigrants who have been having acculturation issues or other mental health problems that intervene in their adjustment to living in a different country.

My treatment approach is a combination of cognitive behavior/person centered therapy, but I consider myself eclectic when it comes to working with a client. Having many years of experience in this field and working with different populations has allowed me to gather a lot of therapeutic tools to be able to tailor the best treatment plan for each client based on what she or he wants to focus on during the therapy sessions. Other techniques that I include in my practice are Mindfulness, Expressive Arts, Dialectical Behavioral therapy (DBT), Solution Focused, and Adlerian therapy.

I have learned through the years providing therapy that everyone has the power to transform his or her life if provided the appropriate tools, and a safe non judgemental environment with empowerment to believe in themselves again. I am looking forward to helping you to discover all the greatness that you have inside you and assist you in developing those skills that will help you to move forward in life.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. In terms of availability, I check and respond to messages at least twice daily, seven days a week. I offer live chat, phone sessions, and video sessions, mostly between the hours of 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm on selected days of the week.