Within Holistic Counseling
Woodstock, Illinois, McHenry
(6)
Woodstock, Illinois, McHenry
(6)
Experience The Next Level of Counseling
​This is not your average counseling. Though we are trained and degreed in psychological techniques, we tailor your work to your specific goals and needs. We are trained in Mindfulness Meditation and holistic techniques that will assist you in getting to the root of the patterns to heal and change them.
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6 customer reviews
Tyfani Longmeyer
Christina Francisco is an amazing therapist! She is kind, empathetic, is a great listener, and a voice of reason during times when my my anxiety is getting the best of me. She introduced me to meditation, which has not only helped calm my mind, but my body as well. I love that she has a natural approach toward therapy and inner healing. There have been many times that I’ve walked into her office feeling awful, and every one of those times I left feeling the complete opposite. She is so easy to talk to, and has such an optimistic attitude toward life, healing from past traumas, as well as personal growth and strength. I truly can’t believe how much my outlook on life has improved since starting therapy with her, and look forward to our sessions each week, something I used to dread with former counselors. Starting therapy with Christina has been life-changing, to say the least! More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
T L.
Christina Francisco is an amazing therapist! She is kind, empathetic, is a great listener, and a voice of reason during times when my my anxiety is getting the best of me. She introduced me to meditation, which has not only helped calm my mind, but my body as well. I love that she has a natural approach toward therapy and inner healing. There have been many times that I've walked into her office feeling awful, and every one of those times I left feeling the complete opposite. She is so easy to talk to, and has such an optimistic attitude toward life, healing from past traumas, as well as personal growth and strength. I truly can't believe how much my outlook on life has improved since starting therapy with her, and look forward to our sessions each week, something I used to dread with former counselors. Starting therapy with Christina has been life-changing, to say the least! More...
Reviewed on Yelp
Julie R.
I've been working with Sara for a few months or so; simply put, she is fantastic.I work in sales, and my schedule changes very often at the last minute; Sara is always very accommodating. Â She texts, which is very convenient for me, and gets back to me very quickly when I communicate via text.Aside from texting and emailing, Sara is wonderful in person. Â She is the type of person whom you feel very comfortable with very early on. Opening up to discuss difficult topics is obviously always tough; I think it's very healthy to seek therapy even when you don't think you need to. Â She is someone who shares her own stories and gives honest opinions and honest advice about what to do to better yourself. Â She's not the typical person to ask questions like "tell me how that makes you feel"; she truly cares and wants to help.I highly recommend her for anyone out there looking to work through difficult point in their life or simply just have someone to talk to. More...
Reviewed on Yelp
Aubrey s.
I worked with Jen Kidwell Meyer, and she guided me through a a really dark period of my life. She figured out my boundaries very quickly in terms of holistic health (I'm a realist, which means I recognize that meditation, nutrition and exercise are a fantastic prescription but I'm wary concerning astrology or crystals and that kind of stuff). Using what I felt comfortable with, she gave me assignments to carry on my development outside of our sessions and work with my own personal toolbox.I'll always be grateful to Jen, and now I recommend therapy to friends as though it were a must-have (because it is!) More...
Reviewed on Yelp
Rachel K.
I reached out to Andrea when I was feeling really out of sorts with whom I was and who I wanted to become. Â Her approach to therapy, with a focus on the mind-body connection, has helped me feel and understand my emotions. Â Andrea's honesty and warmth has pushed me to look at behavioral patterns that, for years, I have been uncomfortably comfortable in. Â Her own personal experiences have validated mine and given me the strength to make changes in my life. Â I look forward to my time spent with Andrea. More...
Reviewed on Yelp
Lauren E.
Andrea Schrage is kind, insightful and above all perceptive; she has been an incredibly positive influence in my life in the ten months I've been seeing her. Her way of sharing stories about her own life and having actual conversations with me (no, "ahh, I see"s or "and how do you FEEL about that?"s) made me instantly comfortable.Andrea practices a very different kind of therapy than I've encountered elsewhere, and I believe that anyone going into sessions with her with an open mind will see steady positive progress in their lives. I count myself lucky to have found her. More...
Reviewed on Yelp
What do you love most about your job?
We get to help people go beyond traditional psychological techniques, to get to the root of the block and make real change. Not everybody has this opportunity, so when someone comes in and they start to become happier, more peaceful, and thrive in their life, it makes it the best job ever.
What inspired you to start your own business?
I was helped by a therapist that changed my life when I was young and I wanted to give in that way too. I didn't want to be confined by just the traditional ways of working and received high level training in mindfulness based and holistic techniques that encompass the person as a whole. Having the opportunity to create a comfortable and home like setting, makes our business stand out.
Why should our clients choose you?
Because we have 20 years of experience behind us and we have done the work that we are asking you to do. We can take you further than most therapists with techniques that work. Also, because sense of humor is everything, and we have that too.
Individual Counseling
​Individual Psychotherapy Sessions​
Individual sessions are an opportunity to be one-on-one with a professional counselor and can help with the daily struggles that life brings. The sessions are usually 50 to 90 minutes and are often scheduled weekly.
During the first session, you will have an opportunity to share your goals for counseling and what areas of your life you might want to improve. You may also talk about your history, family dynamics, current relationships, or current stressors. The first session is also an opportunity to get to know the therapist and to ask questions about the process.
​Going forward, you and your therapist will tailor your work to fit your individual preferences and focus. As the sessions continue, you will continue discussing current events that feel problematic as you start to explore how your history has impacted you. It is also helpful to talk about relationships and communication patterns because when relationships are not working well, people often have an increased amount of stress. You will learn a variety of techniques to grow and change, with mindfulness being a foundation. The technique teaches you to be aware of what you are feeling in the moment, which allows for a deepening of the therapy process. Unwanted patterns of relating and behaving, discovered during therapy sessions, are worked with to create more positive patterns to replace them. Using a variety of avenues allows patterns to shift more rapidly as cognitive therapy helps clients understand the issue with their mind and the more holistic training gives the body’s neurotransmitters a chance to run a new course.
​Many of us have never learned how to care for ourselves, which leads to low self-esteem and an unsuccessful search for satisfaction through addictive behaviors and relationships. Because of this, we will teach you to take care of yourself in new and fulfilling ways. The process leads to an increased feeling of power and self worth and a decrease in feelings of anxiety, depression, and loneliness. We will teach you how to create a mindfulness practice to better check in with yourself throughout the week and to increase relaxation and peace in your day.

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Couples Counseling
Couples face many challenges in creating a healthy relationship. Couples counseling is an opportunity to devote time to your relationship with a professional who is specifically trained to help with the process. Couples often get trapped in communication patterns that create hurt and anger, thus inhibiting the growth of the relationship. There are several practices taught in counseling sessions that help the relationship to change course and grow in a healthier direction:
​• Learning your own relational patterns and belief system
• Learning about your partner’s relational patterns
and belief system
• Learning to listen and communicate productively
• Learning how to help your partner in an
empowering way
• Learning your own self-care
• Learning how to have fun together
• Learning how to create healthy intimacy
​Couples sessions are similar to individual sessions in that the first session is a time to set goals for the therapy work and to hear from each person what challenges they are finding in the relationship. Guidelines for the sessions are discussed to establish a safe environment that won’t recreate the same dysfunctional communication patterns that have existed prior to the start of counseling. You will then learn specific techniques to create healthy communication patterns that you can start using right away.
​The following sessions are an opportunity to work towards the goals that you have established in the initial session. You will learn how to use mindfulness techniques to increase their ability to know what they you are both feeling and needing from one another. Mindfulness techniques provide an opportunity to reduce defensiveness as they put a pause in place to create space for inward reflection before responding. You will both look at past relationship patterns and how old dynamics may be getting played out in your current relationship. If children are involved, you will have the chance to talk about how your relationship is impacting your children and to create changes that will make the whole family more peaceful. The process will vary from couple to couple as each relationship has its own unique characteristics and challenges, thus you will have the opportunity to work with techniques that you are comfortable with.
