Approach to Therapy

Sebastian's therapeutic approach is grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with a focus in the evidence-based treatments of anxiety, primarily Exposure work. He utilizes a collaborative approach with clients and their families to ensure that their unique perspectives are integrated into treatment. He seeks to intervene during the formative childhood years to prevent the development of lifelong disorders. Sebastian's goal is to work not only with clients as individuals but also their families to provide support and work together to create systemic change across contexts of that person's life. Sebastian believes in compassion and empathy as tools to connect and hold space for clients in order to build a foundation for growth and change.

Experience and Training

Sebastian earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. as well as his Master's degree in psychology from Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, IL. He is currently a sixth year graduate student pursuing his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Northern Illinois University with a focus on the study of social anxiety and working with children and adolescents.

Sebastian's experiences working with children, adolescents, and families at the Psychological Services Center at Northern Illinois University have given him a variety of experiences in exposure therapy, psychodiagnostic assessments, and manualized treatments for a range of diagnoses. Sebastian also had the privilege of working for a specialized summer camp program designed to use evidence-based exposure therapy with children and adolescents with selective mutism and social anxiety disorder. During his externship at Florissa Pediatric Center, he delivered evidence-based manualized treatments and psychoeducation for a variety of clients aged 5 through 19 with social anxiety disorder, school refusal, ADHD, generalized anxiety disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), fetal alcohol syndrome, intellectual disability, and grief. He also co-facilitated social skills groups for middle school and high school clients with ASD. Over the past year, Sebastian has worked as an extern at Konick and Associates as a testing clinician working with children, adolescents and their families in diagnosing a wide variety of presenting concerns, including ADHD, Generalized Anxiety, ASD, and Learning Disorders. This experience has strengthened his focus on multi-disciplinary collaboration working with schools and families.

More About Sebastian

Sebastian is a first-generation Hungarian-American originally from the Baltimore, Maryland area and also earned his Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance. He enjoys traveling and exploring new places when Illinois weather allows. He's an avid video gamer and likes to try out cooking new recipes for friends and loved ones."