Anuradha (Anu) Spain

Anu is a licensed clinical social worker with 15 years of psychotherapy experience. She received dual master’s degrees in Social Work and Women’s Studies from Loyola University, Chicago. She previously worked as a hospice and palliative care social worker for 7 years at Midwest Palliative and Hospice CareCenter (now Journeycare) where she provided care for individuals and families coping with with terminal and life limiting illnesses. Anu was a therapist at Thrive Counseling Center in Oak Park for 8 years, working with older adults providing at home psychotherapy, and also doing individual and family therapy with adults across the lifespan. There, she started and facilitated a support group for individuals struggling with death, loss and grief. She was one of the co-founders of the agency’s BIPOC group. She currently teaches core courses at Dominican University’s Graduate School of Social work. Anu’s previous experiences include running a shelter program and counseling women escaping partner violence.

As a clinician drawing from Family Systems theories, Anu has been utilizing concepts of a person in environment perspective to recognize and incorporate knowledge of systemic “isms.” She sees the therapeutic relationship as a collaboration between the individual and the therapist while exploring and creating supportive systems in the community which continue to aid the client and family in their recovery. She works with clients struggling with chronic mental illnesses and focuses on depression, anxiety, trauma and PTSD, marital and partner dynamics and challenges of individuals on the neurodivergent spectrum. She uses narrative and feminist therapeutic models to recognize intersectional challenges experienced by women, people of color and LGBTQI populations. Her therapeutic style is empathetic yet directive. Anu often utilizes her background in yoga teaching to help clients learn ways in which trauma manifests in the human body and incorporates mindfulness and meditative practices in her work.