individual therapy, family therapy
Anne Chen
“Who Am I? Where Do I Fit In?” How Cultural ...

Immigrant families often carry histories shaped by poverty, war, displacement, political persecution, or natural disasters. These experiences leave a deep imprint—not just on those who directly endured them, but on future generations. Trauma shows up in parenting, family roles, and communication patterns. This can create emotional distance between generations.

“Who Am I? Where Do I Fit In?” How Cultural Expectations and Trauma Shape Immigrant Identity
family therapy, individual therapy
Gia Scalise
Loving From a Distance: Boundaries & ...

Setting boundaries with a parent can feel confusing, painful, and even taboo, especially if you were raised to "honor thy father and mother." Maybe your parent dismisses your feelings, crosses emotional or physical boundaries, or makes you feel responsible for their moods. If any of this sounds familiar, you're not alone.

Loving From a Distance: Boundaries & Estrangement with Difficult Parents
individual therapy
Danielle Zawadzki
Building Community in a Divided Society

American society is divided and polarized in our beliefs and perspectives, now more than ever. This can present unique challenges around connecting with others who we may not view as “like us” in our thought processes or belief systems, and this isolation can negatively impact our mental health. In this blog post, we’ll explore how to find community in a divided world, and why community is so important to our mental well-being.

Building Community in a Divided Society
individual therapy
Tim Ciochon MS, LMFT
How to Heal from Religious Trauma

A person's religious upbringing can have as much influence on them as their family of origin, shaping how they see and interact with the world around them. In this post, we'll cover the basics of religious trauma and how therapy can help survivors of religious trauma deconstruct their experiences, find new meaning, and rebuild their value system.

How to Heal from Religious Trauma
Peter Beer MA, LMFT
What is Narrative Therapy? How to Re-Write the ...

We all have our own stories for how our identity formed. Some of these stories are full of beauty and can serve us really well. Other stories can get in the way. Narrative Therapy encourages us to consider how we might “re-author” these stories to have more ownership over our lives.

What is Narrative Therapy? How to Re-Write the Story of You
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The 5 Love Languages

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The 5 Love Languages

The five love languages originated from Dr. Gary Chapman in 1992. These languages are modalities of how we show or receive love and appreciation whether it’s towards our romantic partners, family, or friends. We as humans communicate differently and by understanding how others express love in a meaningful way, it helps us communicate and strengthen relationships by focusing on other’s needs rather than our own. Dr. Chapman developed 5 categories of love languages; Acts of Service, Gifts, Physical Touch, Quality Time, and Words of Affirmation.

Meta-Emotions: Having Feelings about your Feelings

Meta-Emotions: Having Feelings about your Feelings

Two friends Paul and Marty are out for a coffee catching up about life and work. At some point near the end of their catch up, Marty mentions a recent promotion - a promotion Paul himself had been vying for as well (unbeknownst to Marty). This sparked immediate jealousy in Paul. Slowly after his initial glimmer of envy, Paul quickly began to become angry toward himself for feeling jealous, which spirals him into self-shame and deeper despair. He thinks to himself, ”how can I be feeling this way? I am such a “bad friend”.”

Mapping out Therapy - An Interview with founder Danielle Zawadzki

Mapping out Therapy - An Interview with founder Danielle Zawadzki

Have questions about what to expect when coming to therapy? What types of therapy are there? How to know if a therapist is a good fit? Empowered Connections Counseling Founder, Danielle Zawadzki, LMFT sat down with Palos Heights’ (PHTV4) Living Well program to discuss the ins and outs of therapy. Below is a brief summary of her interview, and be sure to check out the full length interview with more in depth insights at the link below.

When You Don't See Eye to Eye

When You Don't See Eye to Eye

According to Dr. John Gottman’s research, 69% of problems that relationships face are actually perpetual or unsolvable problems. The good news is no you are not doomed for, and no you are absolutely not alone. What are examples of unsolvable problems might you ask? Many involve personality or character traits that are simply not changeable, but can also be the very parts of your partner that you fell in love with. They can also include core value topics like politics and religion.

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