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At Holding Space our mission is to empathically walk alongside our patients providing a safe and stable “holding space” that promotes acceptance, confidence, healing, and growth. Beyond our training and education, respect and authentic care is at the heart of all our work.  The therapeutic journey isn’t always easy, and sometimes it can get messy. Our commitment to our patients is that we are here to help you hold the weight of your pain, and inspire hope in moments that feel hopeless. We’re here to help make sense of the absurd and confusing moments and hopefully make you laugh from time to time. We trust that our patients feel our genuine care as we work together toward the shared  goals of living healthier, fuller, more empowered lives.

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Services

Holding Space for Psychological Wellness prides itself on providing comprehensive care and offering an array of individual and group therapy, consultation, training, and speaking engagements to meet patient and community needs. Our approach to psychological wellness is collaborative, empowering, and holistic.

Types of Therapy

Deciding to start therapy is a major step towards improving your overall health. Once you have decided to go to therapy, the second step is to determine what it is that you are hoping to accomplish and what that will look like. Below is a list of different types of therapy that are offered at Holding Space, with descriptions of each process.

Individual Therapy

By providing a nonjudgmental space for you to explore your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, I will help you develop both insight and tools to more effectively navigate your life and relationships.

Group Therapy

Group therapy is highly effective as participants get support from peers who are going through similar issues as well as feedback from the psychologist facilitating the group. Therapy groups typically focus on a common shared topic and occur on a standing time and day. 

Family Therapy

Family therapy can reduce conflict and distress and improve the quality of interactions among family members. I strive to help families identify the causes of conflict and work with the family to develop new ways of coping and engaging in order to increase mutual respect and appreciation for all family members.

Couples Therapy

We support couples working through a variety of struggles and can help you to recognize and resolve conflicts in hopes of coming to a mutual decision about the relationship. During couples therapy I will help you to build skills to communicate more effectively, cultivate intimacy, set healthy boundaries, and make choices about problematic patterns in your relationship so that you can enjoy a more mutually respectful relationship.

Child + Adolescent Therapy

As children and adolescents grow, they often experience a myriad of social, emotional, and mood-related challenges. We utilize a range of therapeutic approaches, including art therapy, play therapy, and traditional talk therapy, in order to assist youth with both developing insight into their challenges and learning ways of harnessing their personal strengths.

Additional Services

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

We provide speaking engagements, workshops, and presentations to a range of organizations for various purposes. Examples of topics include (but are not limited to): simple everyday mindfulness; stress management in the workplace; and Cultural proficiency/Identifying inequity and creating change (this can focus on any and all areas and intersections of diversity).

We provide a range of consultation services. Consultation areas include (but are not limited to): clinical consultation to other mental and medical health professionals and organizations;  professional consultation on opening private practice; education and providing feedback on psychological concepts to writers.

CONSULTATION

Specialties

  • Anxiety
  • Child and adolescent therapy
  • Couples therapy
  • Depression
  • Experiences of discrimination
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  • Life transitions
  • Maternal mental healt
  • Multicultural identity development
  • Professional consultation
  • Trauma and sexual assault
  • Grief and Loss
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Our Team

Dr. Patricia Villarreal

I am the Founder and Executive Director of Holding Space for Psychological Wellness, and I am so happy you are interested in learning a little more about who I am, what matters to me, and how I work with my patients. I have been practicing psychology for almost 8 years now, and have many more years of training and experiences prior to that. I have a wide variety of experiences working with people with all kinds of pains, worries, and desire to live healthier, fuller, and more empowered lives.

Trust and safety are the two most significant experiences that I strive to develop and maintain throughout my relationship with all my patients. These serve as a base for the therapeutic process as they are the most significant elements for “holding space” for another’s healing journey. I strive to co-create a space with my patients that allows them the opportunity to explore their feelings authentically without feeling judged. I do this by being fully transparent with my patients as I work on motivating them to make strides toward their identified goals.

What matters most to me is that my patients feel comfortable with me, and I do this by simply being human with them. I realize the therapeutic experience can provoke anxiety so I try my best to encourage an exchange of transparency and to offer a space filled with unconditional positive regard while promoting a healthy and healing relationship between myself and my patients. I seek to empower my patients to take up their agency in the therapeutic process and reclaim the power from whatever pains them in their lives.

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Dr. Anna Georgatos-Melanis

Coming Soon

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Stefanie Brennan

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Lindsay Recsetar

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Karen Murphy

Coming Soon

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Fees & Insurance

We accept a variety of insurances and are also willing to work as an “out of network” provider with other PPO insurance plans.

Insurance Plans We Accept

  • Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO
  • Cigna
  • Medicare
  • Optum/United Healthcare
  • Bright Health
  • Cigna
  • Medicare
  • Optum/United Healthcare
  • Bright Health
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO
Out of Network or Non participating providers:

What this means is that you are responsible for paying the full fee upfront for each session. At the end of every month, we will provide you with an invoice (also known as a “superbill”) which you will then submit to your insurance company for reimbursement. Depending on your plan, you will usually get a percentage of what you already paid back to you, which can help offset the out-of-pocket cost of therapy

To find out more about your network coverage, we encourage you to follow these steps:

  1. Call your insurance provider at the number listed on the back of your insurance card.
  2. Ask your provider what percentage is covered for “out-of-network” or “non-participating providers.”
  3. Ask your provider what the “maximum allowed amount” is per session (this is sometimes referred to as “reasonable and customary fees”) for zip code 90025 for a licensed psychologist. If they ask, the CPT/procedure code is 90837 for individual psychotherapy and 90847 for couples/family psychotherapy.
  4. Ask your provider if you have a deductible for an out-of-network provider and how much it is.

FAQs

The simple answer is, if you want to make a change in your life, therapy can help. Therapy can benefit anyone who wants to improve their quality of life.

We have found that while there are a number of factors that make therapy “successful,” the most important one is you, the client. It takes courage, commitment, and vulnerability to get the most out of therapy. So if you are ready to learn more about yourself, overcome barriers, develop healthier habits, begin to heal from past trauma, and improve relationships, we’re here for you.

The therapy relationship is unique. Unlike other relationships in your life, your therapist is an unbiased, objective support who can help you gain new perspective in a way that others who are intricately woven into your life cannot. When you come to therapy, you are taking care of yourself by dedicating time to the task of taking care of you and only you. No need to fear you said too much or worry about your privacy.

Your first few meetings will give you and your psychologist an opportunity to get to know each other and decide if you are a good fit. You may be asked some questions about your background and goals for therapy. You will also have the opportunity to learn more about the therapy process, as well as discuss a plan for treatment. If for some reason you and your psychologist are not the right fit, you will be provided with trusted referrals.

Typically, sessions occur once per week. You and your psychologist/counselor may decide to increase or decrease the frequency of visits depending on progress and need.

LCPC stands for Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. Generally, the most reputable and highest quality doctoral programs in counseling psychology are accredited by (CACREP).

As psychologists, we are not able to prescribe medication. We will of course provide you with referrals to trusted psychiatrists if needed and collaborate with him/her to coordinate your care.

Length of treatment depends on the presenting issue and the goals of treatment. Brief treatment might be as short as three to five sessions while longer term therapy might last several years. We will collaborate to determine the length of treatment that is both clinically appropriate and best meets your needs.

Please read about our team of psychologists to determine who you might like to work with. To schedule a free consultation with that psychologist, simply click the “Schedule A Free Consultation” button under their photograph. If you are unsure who would be the best fit, fill out our general contact form and we will connect you with one of our psychologists who would be a good match based on your needs.

Sessions are 55 minutes in length. This, of course, will depend on your timely arrival to sessions

Your appointment time is reserved for you, so as soon as you arrive, we will begin the session and use whatever time is left.

We understand things come up. Please provide us with at least 24 hours notice if you need to cancel or change your appointment. There is a charge for a late cancellation/no show. Please consult initial practice paperwork for specific details on  fees and attendance expectations

Psy.D. stands for “Doctorate in Psychology.” Generally, the most reputable and highest quality doctoral programs in psychology are accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). All of our psychologists at Holding Space for Psychological Wellness, LLC. graduated from APA-accredited Psy.D. programs, in addition to having written dissertations, we have also completed APA-accredited doctoral internships. Further, all of our psychologists are licensed in the state of Illinois. To become a licensed psychologist, one must participate in a rigorous process which includes examination and extensive verification of credentials to certify that psychologists have fully completed their required training pre and post degree completion. In addition to education pre license, all of our team is always up to date with our continuing education and credentialing on a yearly basis, as is expected by our licensing board. We take our roles seriously and we are always looking to expand our knowledge base and stay up to date on current events and most recent and relevant treatment methods because we take our patient’s wellness seriously!   

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6650 N Northwest Hwy Suite 1W

Chicago, IL 60630

Phone:

773-796-7035

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Welcome to Holding Space! We look forward to connecting with you and hoping to support your wellness journey.

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