Bridget Sutton is an associate Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of Illinois. Bridget believes that there is immense power in relationships, and works to empower family connectedness between caregivers and their loved ones.
In her work with children and families, Bridget sees the impact of life transitions, loss/trauma, disability, and relational challenges. Often, families navigate these difficulties while feeling stuck, alone, or ineffective. In play, however, we create opportunities to restore, understand, and strengthen loving bonds. Harnessing this creative power allows kids and adults to experience new ways of relating to themselves and their worlds.
Bridget is a white, queer therapist who strives to honor and incorporate the many social, ethnic, and religious identities that compose our families. Your unique family deserves celebration!
Bridget can be contacted at [email protected], and uses they/them and she/her pronouns.
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Liz Humphrey (she/her/hers) is the Clinic Intern at The Theraplay Institute. She is in her final year at The Erikson Institute working toward her Master of Social Work (MSW) with a concentration in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. Liz has completed Theraplay Level One Training and is being supervised by a Certified Theraplay Practitioner. She has also completed Level One Facilitating Attuned Interactions (FAN) certification through The Erikson Institute and a Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders certification through Postpartum Support International.
Liz has over two decades of experience working alongside children and their families in their homes as a nanny and at Play, a storefront to support healthy play in children. These experiences have given her a keen understanding of developmentally friendly activities, which she incorporates in her therapeutic work. She also emphasizes the importance of play to help regulate emotions, develop healthy relationships, and help build a child’s sense of self. Liz is passionate about perinatal health policies and ensuring that we do better for all of our families. She has earned a Postpartum Doula certification specializing in transitions, attachment styles, and ways to strengthen relationships between partners, siblings, or other caregivers.
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Katherine Vincent Lamb (she/her) is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Theraplay Practitioner with a degree in Art Therapy and Counseling. Prior to returning to school to pursue clinical training, Katherine worked for over a decade in residential and community-based programs for children and youth, providing case management services and later co-directing an after-school program in a Chicago public elementary school. Katherine is certified in the ARC trauma treatment framework and has experience working with children who have experienced personal and communal traumatic events. She supports children and adolescents navigating issues of identity and self-esteem, adjusting to parental divorce or separation, and developing skills in self-expression and regulation. In her therapeutic work, Katherine combines her understanding of art therapy, play-based approaches and sensory regulation techniques to support clients’ growth. In addition to offering caregiver-child therapy and individual art therapy for children and adolescents, Katherine provides support for parents and caregivers as they identify parenting approaches that align with their own strengths, values and goals.
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Charles Culpepper “Chuck” (he/him/his) is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) who earned his Master’s degree in Counseling from Southern Methodist University. He is licensed to practice counseling in Illinois and Texas. Chuck has experience working with children and adults of all ages providing individual, couple, group, and family counseling services in various settings. He completed his internship at a university clinic and an inpatient hospital servicing a diverse population. There he provided case management, individual, couple, and group counseling services for clients who presented with mood disorders, substance abuse issues, Schizophrenia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and relationship challenges. During this time, he also conducted a supervised child custody evaluation with Collin County family court in Texas. After he completed his internship, Chuck worked in a community mental health setting providing case management, crisis intervention, and family psychoeducation services for individuals with severe mental illnesses in Dallas, Texas. During this time, he received training in Child-Centered Play Therapy and co-presented a workshop on adapting Emotionally Focused Therapy for lesbian couples at the Texas Association of Marriage and Family Therapy annual conference. After Chuck relocated to Chicago, he worked at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine on a study that provided Behavioral Activation and Behavioral Therapy services for individuals with depression. At Northwestern University, he was asked to co-teach a seminar on how to implement these evidence-based treatments for a class of
psychiatrists. In Chicago, he has also worked at a pediatric outpatient clinic providing play therapy, parenting support, and case management services addressing issues with emotion regulation, depression, anxiety, trauma, anger management, relationship challenges, adoption, and symptoms of ADHD and Autism. Currently, Chuck utilizes techniques and interventions from Theraplay, Child-Centered Play Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and other modalities working with children and adults of all ages. He is also trained to implement Cognitive Processing Therapy for adults with PTSD. He has a passion for working with children in adoptive/foster care families. He is also devoted to serving the LGBTQ community, and he has particular interest in working with gay men experiencing challenges with relationships, family of origin issues, career concerns, and low self-esteem. He is a Certified Child-Centered Play Therapist, Certified Autplay Therapist, and Foundational Theraplay Practitioner. Chuck can be reached at [email protected]
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Kirsten is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Theraplay Practitioner. She earned her Master of Social Work with a mental health concentration from the University of Illinois at Chicago. There, she also earned a certificate in Integrated Behavioral Health with children and adolescents. Kirsten has received additional training in Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC), Trust Based Relational Interventions (TBRI), the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and adoption related mental health.
Kirsten uses a strengths-based approach to promote secure attachments, foster healthy relationships between family members, and promote mutual enjoyment of each other. She has worked with youth in care, the refugee community, and youth and families who have adopted or have guardianship through DCFS. She has experience working with these communities on issues of trauma, grief, loss, displacement, identity, and other related issues. Kirsten can be reached at [email protected].
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Alice is a Licensed Professional Counselor and National Certified Counselor who earned her Master’s degree in Counseling from Northwestern University. She has varied clinical experience in working for community mental health settings, non-for-profit organizations, hospitals, and schools. She has training in Theraplay, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Polyvagal Theory, Neuro-sequential Model Technique Training, EMDR, and Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Currently, Alice works for Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago as their Bereavement Coordinator.
Alice has experience with helping youth, teenagers, and parents safely navigate through their differences while they strive to understand each other’s point of view. She also provides beneficial treatment to families who have experienced challenges due to a death of a loved one, acculturation, trauma, and violence. Alice’s clinical approach is to support her clients, families, and their children through patience, genuine care, and open-mindedness. She aims to embrace her clients’ unique style of parenting, communicating, and feeling while also exploring the best way to do it as a family. Alice can be reached at [email protected] for clinical services in both English and Spanish.
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Alice es consejera profesional licenciada y certificada nacionalmente. Obtuvo su maestría en Consejería de la Universidad de Northwestern. Tiene experiencia clínica basado en trabajos para entornos comunitarios de salud mental, organizaciones sin fines de lucro, hospitales y escuelas. Además, cuenta con capacitaciones en Theraplay, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Polyvagal Theory, Neuro-sequential Model Technique, Terapia de desensibilización y reprocesamiento por movimientos oculares (EMDR) y Terapia Cognitivo Conductual Centrada en el Trauma (TF-CBT). Actualmente, ella se encuentra trabajando en Ann y Robert H. Lurie Hospital de Niños en Chicago como Coordinadora de Duelo.
El enfoque clínico de Alice es apoyar a los padres de familia y a sus hijos con paciencia, atención genuina y una mentalidad abierta. Su objetivo final es conseguir que las familias puedan sentirse seguras de poder compartir sus sentimientos y explorar juntos la mejor manera de comunicarse entre ellos, considerando sus propios estilos de apego. Por último, brinda tratamiento a familias que han experimentado desafíos debido a la muerte de un ser querido, trauma, violencia, aculturación y autoidentidad cultural. Se puede contactar con Alice enviando un correo electrónico a alic[email protected] Los servicios estan disponibles en inglés y español.
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Zaya Gillogly (she/her/hers) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Theraplay Practitioner, Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Practitioner, and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. She is a Theraplay Supervisor-in-Training and is working toward becoming a Registered Play Therapist. She works with youth of all ages, and their families, who have experienced abuse, trauma, neglect, domestic violence, separation and/or loss. Zaya has experience working with youth who are adopted and their families on grief, loss, identity, and other adoption-related topics. She aims to build a working alliance with families to identify the specific needs of their child. Zaya aims to create space for parent and child to experience connection, attunement, and mutual enjoyment as a tool to build their relationship. Utilizing the power of relationships to meet the needs of the child, Zaya supports families in creating positive emotional and behavioral changes.
Zaya earned her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work at Ohio University and her Master’s degree in Social Work with a concentration in mental health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has worked in community mental health, youth and domestic violence shelters, LGBTQ centers, and home-based services. Zaya has additional training in Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC), adoption-competent mental health, non-directive play techniques and art-based techniques. Zaya can be reached at [email protected].\
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Anita Johanson Maddox is a licensed clinical counselor and licensed professional educator with over thirty years of experience in varied settings that include a community mental health center, the Special Education District of Lake County, and 20 years at The Theraplay Institute. She has enjoyed working with a variety of populations from infants to the elderly. Her experience as a staff therapist at a Community Mental Health Center involved treating individuals and groups with both young families and the chronically mentally ill. During that time, she also worked at The Children’s Memorial Hospital (renamed Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago) as an Infant Care Volunteer Coordinator. She was employed for thirteen years at The Special Education District of Lake County (SEDOL) as a Family Specialist. In the Spring of 2020, she became a Contractual Therapist at The Theraplay Institute. Anita has an interest in treating young children, children who have a variety of concerns that include, but are not limited to, characteristics of autism, medical and or developmental concerns, trauma and attachment concerns, and parent-child relationship difficulties. Using Theraplay® techniques, she guides families in experiencing happiness and togetherness. As a result, families achieve increased closeness and discover more positive ways of interacting. Anita creates a connection with families, and helps them develop a new perspective of their child’s worthiness and special strengths. Various experiences in her life have sparked her interest in working with families to assist them in understanding, accepting, and respecting each other. Anita has discovered the empowerment that can be provided to people who have experienced challenges in their lives.
Anita is a Certified Theraplay Practitioner and a Registered Play Therapist – Supervisor. She has co-presented at The Theraplay Institute International Conferences and also co-authored an article which was published in The Theraplay Institute Newsletter, as well as a chapter in the book Applications of Family and Group Theraplay, Rowman & Littlefield Publisher, 2009, edited by Evangeline Munns. In addition to mental health licenses in Illinois and Wisconsin, Anita also has a State of Illinois Educators License Early Childhood (Birth to Third Grade).
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M.S.W., J.D., L.C.S.W., R.P.T.
Mandy is a Certified Theraplay® Practitioner, Trainer, and Supervisor-in-Training. She is also the Executive Director at The Theraplay Institute. Mandy has worked almost exclusively with adoptive and foster families since she began her career. She takes a particular interest in helping families with young children form strong attachments and work through sensory concerns. Mandy is also experienced in helping adopted individuals with identity, loss, and anxiety concerns throughout their lifespan. Mandy provides ongoing therapy to anyone touched by adoption. Over the past few years, she has developed a specialty in helping children with FASD. She is also adjunct staff for The Ties Program, Adoptive Family Travel. In this capacity, she provides logistical and mental health support as adoptive families re-experience birth culture. She also assists with orphanage visits and provides support during birth/foster family reunions. While Mandy doesn’t regularly practice law, through her legal work she has advocated for children in both Illinois and Michigan’s child welfare systems. She continues to use her legal knowledge and advocacy skills to help families gain Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and other essential resources for children. Mandy earned her BA in Political Science and her BS in Psychology from Loyola University Chicago. She earned her Masters of Clinical Social Work and Juris Doctorate from Michigan State University. She is further trained in TBRI and ARC. Mandy can be reached at [email protected].
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