Alejandra Chacon
My name is Alejandra and I am a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Illinois. In 2015, I graduated with a Masters from University of Illinois at Chicago Jane Addams College of Social Work with a clinical focus on children and adolescent mental health. I began my clinical career providing children, adolescents, and families with evidence based therapy in a community setting. For the past 8 years, I have been providing outpatient therapy to adults and couples in a hospital setting. I am trained and experienced in multiple evidence-based therapies to treat depression, anxiety, and trauma. I also have extensive training in working with individuals who experience violence in their intimate relationships. I am interested in learning about the story that brought you here and working alongside you to help you to make changes that align with your values.
First session
Whether or not you are new to therapy, my hope is to help create a space where you feel comfortable telling me your story. My hope is that you feel heard and respected throughout our meeting. If this is your first time in therapy, I understand you may not know what to expect. In this first session, we will talk about what brought you to therapy; what current or recent life changes/stressful events are you experiencing? We will also discuss any specific mood and/or behavior changes that may be causing you distress. You will be asked to fill out a questionnaire about symptoms prior to our first appointment, but I will also take the time to into this in detail during our first session. Most importantly, I will ask you about what you are doing to currently doing to cope with any distress you are experiencing. I want to know about your personal strengths so we can continue to build upon them. I am also interested in learning how your identity (e.g. culture, race, gender, and sexual orientation, etc.) impacts your lived experience. At the end of our session, I will check in with you to see how you felt throughout our conversation. It is important for me to know if I may not be a good therapist match for you. If you do not think that I am a good therapist match for you, I want to support you by linking you with a new therapist that may fit your needs better. If you feel comfortable moving forward working with me, we will begin to map out therapy goals. Depending on what your goals are, we can begin to discuss what therapy interventions might help you achieve those goals. Sometimes it can be difficult figuring these out, so do not feel pressured to have them figured out right away. We will work together to figure them out.
Strengths
My greatest strength is understanding how someone's identity shapes their life experience and mental health. I understand how difficult it can be to break from harmful intergenerational patterns and replace them with behaviors that reflect one's values. Although there may be patterns we may want to change, it is also important to root ourselves in the strengths of our identities. I use my professional knowledge and training to inform my therapy approach, but I also heavily focus on a client's lived experience to personalize treatment. I value your opinion, and therefore, will regularly ask you for feedback to ensure you are feeling supported and that you are making progress on your goals.
Ideal clients
I am best suited for clients that want to focus on the following areas: life transitions (e.g. new employment, caregiving for a loved one with a serious illness, death of a loved one, divorce, relocation, birth of a new child, dealing with a significant medical condition), decreasing depressive moods, improving sleep, increasing self-care, improving setting and communicating boundaries with others, improving assertiveness, improving confidence and self-trust, increasing healthy relationships with intimate partners, decreasing anxiety or panic attacks, parenting-related stress. I will work best with clients that are motivated to meet weekly or every 2 weeks when beginning therapy.
Treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I have been using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) since 2015 to treat anxiety and depression. CBT focuses understanding how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors impact one another. Together, we will carefully identify thought patterns and behaviors that may be impacting your mood. We will explore more flexible thinking patterns that can decrease anxiety and depression.
Culturally Sensitive Therapy
I use this approach with every client that I work with. It is important for me to understand how your everyday experiences are impacted by race, ethnicity, age, sex, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, and other factors. Recognizing how discrimination impacts your mental health can help us have a better understanding of any challenges you may be struggling with.
Interpersonal
This is an evidenced-based therapy that looks at how depression is triggered by stress in interpersonal relationships. The goal of this therapy is to decrease depressive symptoms by improving the quality of interpersonal relationships. Grief (death of a loved one), life transitions (divorce, caregiving, significant medical illnesses), interpersonal disputes (differences in communication styles, values), and social isolation are some of the areas we can explore and process with this therapy.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
Mindfulness-based therapy techniques help people improve emotional regulation, decision making, and productivity. We will practice techniques to help you feel aware of how your body is showing up in your lived experiences. When you are present in both mind and body, you can make more balanced decisions in your daily life.
Location
Virtual sessions
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Licensed in
- IllinoisLicense 149020215