When your health takes up more of your life than anyone can see

Living with a chronic condition asks a lot of you. Beyond the symptoms themselves, there are appointments, test results, medications, flares, and the constant calculation of how much a day will cost you.

There's also the part most people don't see: the grief, anger, fear, and exhaustion that can come with a body that doesn't always cooperate. You may have been told to stay positive, or had experiences in medical settings that left you feeling dismissed. Or you may simply be tired of carrying all of it.

In our work together, I offer two things. First, a place to work with the emotional weight of living with illness. Second, if you're interested, a curious and collaborative look at how your emotions, stress, and nervous system interact with your symptoms, and whether changing those patterns might bring some relief.

You may recognize some of these experiences

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• Grief for the life, plans, or body you had before, or expected to have

• Anger at your body, at the unfairness of it, or at people who don't understand

• Exhaustion from managing symptoms, appointments, and everyone else's reactions

• Anxiety about symptoms, test results, flares, or the future

• Guilt or shame about what you can't do, or about needing help

• Pushing through until you crash, then criticizing yourself for crashing

• Feeling dismissed, disbelieved, or reduced to a chart in medical settings

• A diagnosis or health change that has shaken your sense of who you are

Working with the emotional weight of illness

In Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, we get curious about the different parts of you that respond to your health. One part may push through pain because stopping feels like giving up. Another may collapse into hopelessness when a flare hits. A critical part may treat every symptom as a personal failure, while a frightened part scans your body for signs that something is wrong.

Each of these parts is trying to protect you, often in ways that once made sense. As we understand what they're worried about, they tend to soften. That makes room for grief to move, for anger to be heard instead of turned inward, and for more choice in how you pace yourself, speak to yourself, and advocate for yourself with your care team.

Exploring the mind-body connection

Pain and many other symptoms are shaped by the nervous system. The brain doesn't just register pain; it produces the experience of it, drawing on signals from the body along with stress, fear, memory, and emotion. That's true for everyone, and it's one reason the same condition can feel so different from person to person, or from one week to the next.

Research on chronic pain increasingly suggests that working with emotional patterns can change how pain is experienced for some people. The gut and brain are also in constant communication, which is why psychological approaches are among the recommended options for conditions like irritable bowel syndrome.

I'm currently training in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), two approaches developed specifically for chronic pain, and I draw on both alongside IFS.

So alongside the emotional work, we can explore questions like these: What tends to be happening, inside and around you, when symptoms spike? How do your parts react to pain or fatigue, and does that reaction add to it? What happens in your body when you feel safer, or when a long-held emotion finally gets expressed?

Some people find that as fear, pressure, and held-back emotion loosen their grip, their symptoms ease too. Pain may become less intense or less frequent, digestive symptoms may settle, or fatigue may feel more manageable. Others find their symptoms stay much the same, but their relationship to them changes. I can't predict which will be true for you, and I won't promise either, but it can be worth exploring.

What this work is, and isn't

This work happens alongside your medical care, never in place of it. New or changing symptoms always deserve a medical evaluation, and I don't diagnose or treat physical conditions.

Exploring the mind-body connection doesn't mean your symptoms are imaginary, exaggerated, or your fault. Pain shaped by the nervous system is real pain. We're exploring what might help, not deciding what "really" causes your symptoms. 

What we may work toward

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• Space to grieve what has changed, and to feel anger without turning it against yourself

• Less shame and self-criticism about your body and your limits

• Pacing that feels less like a battle between pushing and collapsing

• A clearer sense of how stress, emotion, and your symptoms interact for you

• For some people, some relief in pain, digestive symptoms, or fatigue

• Clearer communication and boundaries with partners, family, friends, and employers

• More confidence speaking up for yourself in medical appointments

• A sense of identity that has room for your health without being defined by it

Psychotherapy in Chicago, Michigan, and Tokyo

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I offer 50-minute individual telehealth sessions for adults in Chicago and Michigan, as well as clients living in Tokyo. Sessions are $150, and eligible Chicago clients may use Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois insurance.

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You can view my online calendar and request either a free consultation or an initial therapy session. If you don’t see a time that works for you, you’re still welcome to contact me, as I may have additional or upcoming availability that isn’t shown online.

Because sessions are online, there's no commute on a hard day. You're welcome to join from the couch, with a heating pad, or however you're most comfortable.

Frequently asked questions

Are you saying my symptoms are psychological?

No. Your symptoms are real. The nervous system is involved in how everyone experiences pain and many other symptoms. That's basic physiology, not a judgment about you or a suggestion that you're imagining anything. Exploring that connection is one more place to look for relief, alongside your medical care.

Will therapy help my physical symptoms?

It might. Some people notice their pain, digestive symptoms, or fatigue ease over the course of our work, and others don't. That isn't guaranteed, and therapy isn't a treatment for your condition itself. Either way, the emotional side of living with illness deserves care, and that is what therapy is built for.

Do I need a diagnosis to work with you?

No. You're welcome whether you have one diagnosis, several, or are still searching for answers. I'll encourage you to keep working with your medical providers, especially if your symptoms are new or changing.

Is there research on this?

Yes, though it's still developing. Randomized trials of two emotion- and brain-focused approaches to chronic pain, Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), found meaningful pain reductions for many participants, mostly people with chronic back and musculoskeletal pain. U.S. gastroenterology guidelines suggest gut-directed psychological therapies for irritable bowel syndrome. Research on IFS specifically is earlier: a small 2013 trial with adults living with rheumatoid arthritis found lasting improvements in self-reported joint pain, self-compassion, and depressive symptoms, though not in measured disease activity. Out of these mentioned modalities: I've been practicing IFS for almost a decade and I am in the process of training in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET).  

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