Approach to Therapy

Taren's approach to therapy is warm, personable, and nonjudgmental. She practices a collaborative approach with her clients, taking into account each unique individual's social, emotional, psychological, medical, and situational needs, while utilizing evidenced based treatment approaches.  She specializes in Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Exposure Based therapies. Taren believes in developing a healthy and trusting therapeutic relationship from the start and encourages the interaction of the clients’ healthy support network to help encourage and support the client through the therapy process. She commonly works with parents, other providers and school providers to support children, teens, and young adults struggling with anxiety and OCD.  Taren engages the client in psycho education and open communication in order to have transparency and a true understanding of what is happening during the therapeutic process to help decrease treatment related anxiety.  She also meets the client where they are at and develops interventions to aid them in being successful and noticing progress.

Experience and Training

Taren earned her BSW from the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Il, where she completed her internship in sexual assault and domestic violence advocacy. She completed her MSW from Aurora University in Aurora, IL, where she completed a second internship in hospice social work and bereavement counseling. Taren currently specializes in working with children, teens, and adults with OCD, all types of anxiety, and anxiety related disorders.  She has extensive knowledge in Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Exposure and Response Prevention, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Solution Focused therapy approaches, while providing a warm, comfortable, and safe environment.  Taren also has experience working in residential group homes, medical settings, community mental health centers, in-home, and private practice environments, and has worked with individuals, groups, families, and couples from all walks of life. In addition to working with people who struggle with anxiety, and OCD, she has treated people with trauma related issues, chronic mental health conditions, crisis counseling, and developed a psycho-social rehabilitation group programs. She is a member of the International OCD Foundation and enjoys speaking on and providing trains for OCD and anxiety related disorders.

More About Taren

Taren is originally from the south suburbs. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and her two rescue dogs, and exploring new restaurants throughout Chicago land.