Women-Centered ADHD (W-CAT) · ADHD in Adult Women · Anxiety · Burnout in High-Achievers · Perinatal & Postpartum Mental Health · Hormonal Mental Health (PCOS) · First-Generation & Latina Experiences · Bilingual English/Spanish · Illinois Telehealth
FOR THE ONES WHO HOLD IT ALL TOGETHER — AND ARE READY TO STOP PERFORMING AND COME HOME TO THEMSELVES
Therapy for women, high-achieving professionals, and first-generation adults navigating ADHD, anxiety, burnout, hormonal and perinatal mental health, and the major life transitions that change who you are, across Illinois, via telehealth.
DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?
You're the one who has it figured out. Lately, that's getting harder to keep up.
You've built a life that looks right on paper, the career, the relationships, the systems that hold everything together. But the overthinking doesn't stop when your head hits the pillow. The burnout keeps coming back even after the vacation. Your focus shifts with your cycle in ways no one ever explained to you. Maybe you've started wondering if what you've been calling anxiety or perfectionism your whole life is actually something else entirely, something with a name, a pattern, and a different kind of support behind it.
Therapy with me is where we stop performing, look at what's actually happening underneath, and build something that holds up in real life, not just on paper.
HI, I'M MELISSA!
I'm a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), the founder of EUNOIA Integrative Counseling, and a certified Women-Centered ADHD Specialist (W-CAT). I work with women, high-achieving professionals, and first-generation adults navigating ADHD, anxiety, burnout, hormonal and perinatal mental health, and the identity work that comes with major life transitions.
ADHD looks different in women than the version most of us were taught to recognize. It shows up as the perfectionism that kept you safe, the overthinking that helped you compensate, the burnout cycles you've been calling "just stress," and the way your focus, mood, and executive function shift with your hormones in ways no one ever explained.
I am trained in the W-CAT (Women-Centered ADHD Treatment) model specifically because the standard ADHD playbook was built around how it presents in boys and men — and the women I work with deserve a framework that actually accounts for their lived experience.
The clients I connect most with are people who are deeply competent and quietly exhausted, the ones who've spent years being the strong one, the responsible one, the one everyone else leans on.
"Stepping into your power isn't about doing more. It's about putting down what was never yours to carry"
WHO I WORK WITH
The clients I work with often…
…are women who've started wondering if the lifelong overthinking, perfectionism, and burnout they've been managing might actually be ADHD — and who want a clinician who understands how it shows up in women specifically.
…are women whose ADHD symptoms shift across their menstrual cycle, pregnancy, postpartum, or perimenopause — and who've never had a clinician connect those dots before.
…are high-achieving professionals running on empty, questioning the career they worked so hard to build, and unsure what comes next.
…are women whose anxiety has started showing up in their body — sleep, hormones, focus, energy — and who are tired of being told it's just stress.
…are new and expecting mothers navigating the emotional and hormonal terrain of pregnancy, postpartum, or the early years of parenting.
…are women navigating PCOS, perimenopause, or hormonal mental health shifts that have changed how they feel in their own skin.
…are first-generation or Latina adults carrying the quiet weight of family expectations, cultural identity, and the experience of building a life their family doesn't always understand.
…are women in their thirties and forties asking the bigger questions — about identity, purpose, partnership, and what they actually want this chapter to look like.
…are clients who want therapy in Spanish or who feel most at home moving between Spanish and English in session.
AREAS OF FOCUS
Women-Centered ADHD (W-CAT) Late-diagnosed ADHD in adult women, executive functioning across the menstrual cycle and perinatal period, masking, rejection sensitivity, and the patterns that go unnamed in standard ADHD treatment.
Women's mental health Anxiety, overthinking, and the patterns that show up in body, mind, and relationships.
Anxiety and chronic overthinking For adults whose anxiety has started interfering with sleep, focus, work, or how they feel in their body.
Perinatal and postpartum mental health Pregnancy, postpartum, identity shifts, and the emotional reality of new parenthood.
Hormonal mental health: PCOS, perimenopause, and the way hormones shape mood, energy, executive function, and self.
Burnout in high-achieving professionals: Career stress, resentment, and figuring out what's next when the path you built doesn't fit anymore.
First-generation and Latina experiences: Cultural identity, family expectations, and building a life across two worlds.
Life transitions, grief, and identity work
Relationships, parenthood, loss, and the work of becoming someone new.
Bilingual therapy in Spanish. Sessions in English, Spanish, or fluid movement between both.
Career counseling and vocational identity Career transitions, feeling stuck or unfulfilled at work, job changes, and reconnecting with work that actually feels meaningful. Informed by years of evidence-based employment support work.
HOW I WORK
My approach is warm, grounded, and collaborative. I believe therapy should feel like a space where you can show up honestly, without feeling judged or pressured to have it figured out before you arrive. I'm supportive and straightforward; many clients tell me they appreciate having someone who'll validate them and gently push when something needs to move.
I integrate evidence-based approaches:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
For understanding the link between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, especially around anxiety, overthinking, and burnout.
Solution-Focused Therapy
For building on the strengths you already have, identifying what's working, and creating small, sustainable changes that outlast the routines that look perfect on paper.
Mindfulness-Based Approaches
For building awareness of your body and emotions, slowing reactivity, and creating space between what you feel and what you do.
Integrative Mental Health
For honoring the whole picture, hormones, sleep, nervous system, relationships, identity; rather than treating mental health as separate from the body it lives in.
Sessions are tailored to what you need. For some clients, that means making sense of anxiety or ADHD and building tools for real life. For others, it means navigating the emotional terrain of motherhood, hormonal shifts, or career transitions. For many, it means finally giving themselves permission to put something down.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Clients often describe sessions with me as honest, grounding, and surprisingly light when the moment calls for it. My goal is to help you feel deeply understood while building the practical insight and tools to actually move forward.
We move at a pace that feels supportive and intentional; there's space to explore what's hard alongside developing skills that help you feel more grounded, capable, and like yourself again. While my style is warm, I also believe meaningful change often requires honesty. When the moment calls for it, I'll gently push back, name what I'm noticing, or invite you to look at something from a different angle.
I often work with clients on building realistic routines that support their mental health..not ones that look perfect on Instagram but fall apart by Wednesday. Real life, real schedules, real bodies.
If you're unsure whether we'd be a good fit, we can talk it through on a free 15-minute consultation. You don't have to have everything figured out before starting therapy.
INSURANCE AND ACCESS
BCBS PPO · Aetna · UHC / Optum, Cigna
Sessions are virtual via secure telehealth, available to clients across Illinois. I offer flexible scheduling for working professionals, parents, and high-demand schedules.
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
In addition to my clinical work at EUNOIA, I bring a specialized background in vocational mental health. I serve as Employment Program Manager at a local community mental health agency where I lead an internationally recognized IPS (Individual Placement and Support) employment program, an evidence-based model that supports individuals living with serious mental illness in pursuing meaningful, competitive employment and long-term independence.
This work has shaped how I understand the relationship between identity, mental health, and work and it gives me particular insight into the experience of clients navigating career transitions, burnout, return-to-work after a mental health leave, or the question of what comes next when the work you trained for no longer fits who you've become. Few therapists bring direct expertise in both clinical mental health treatment and evidence-based career support, and I draw on both fluently in sessions where vocational identity is part of the work.
I also serve as Co-Chair for Region 1 (Chicago–Northwest) of the Cook County Behavioral Health Workforce Collaborative and sit on the Behavioral Health Workforce Center advisory board, where I advocate for improved access to mental health care, culturally responsive services, and stronger support for the behavioral health workforce, particularly in underserved communities.
As a bilingual, Latina clinician, I bring a thoughtful understanding of the complexities that come with balancing multiple cultures, expectations, and roles. I'm especially passionate about supporting other first-generation and Latina clients, people who know the particular weight of building a life their family didn't have the language for, navigating expectations that don't always make room for individual growth, and finding belonging when "home" lives in more than one place. I'm honored to offer therapy in Spanish for clients who feel most themselves in their first language.
My training in the Women-Centered ADHD Treatment (W-CAT) model, integrative mental health, CBT, mindfulness-based, and solution-focused approaches, paired with my background in evidence-based vocational mental health, informs how I show up in the therapy room, with warmth, honesty, and a deep belief that change is possible at any stage of life.
THINGS THAT MAKE ME, ME
A true crime devotee.
Especially the ones where you're sure you've cracked the case and you absolutely haven't.
Happiest at home with my pets. The dogs, the cat, and yes, the fish they're all family.
Recently a Pilates convert. One of the few things that actually helps me slow down and reset.
A believer in soft things. Slow mornings, soft blankets, and conversations that go beyond surface-level.
A defender of rest and laughter. Rest isn't optional, laughter is underrated, and we don't always have to take ourselves so seriously.