What's New at NCRC?

Happy Holidays from NCRC! We are wishing you love, light, happiness, and prosperity in 2018! 

HOLIDAY DONATION: Every year NCRC donates money to a worthy cause! This year, NCRC donated funds to Everytown for Gun Safety, a movement of Americans working together to end gun violence and build safer communities. "Gun violence touches every town in America. But something is changing. More than 4 million mayors, moms, cops, teachers, survivors, gun owners, and everyday Americans have come together to make their own communities safer. Everytown starts with you, and it starts in your town". For more information, please visit https://everytown.org/ for ways to donate and ways to get involved!

NEW YEAR RESOLUTION ACTIVITY FOR CLIENTS: BURNING BOWL
MATERIALS: Metal bowl, white paper cut into small strips or squares, pen, lighter, water/faucet

INSTRUCTIONS: Find a quiet place to meditate. Write in your journal all your thoughts and feelings about the end of 2017. What are you ready to let go of in the new year? What habits, people, struggles, etc. are you wanting to release and leave behind in 2017? You may be ready to release an emotion, thought or belief about your situation. Write these down on the strips of paper. If you are doing this exercise with a significant other or family members, you may choose to read each piece of paper aloud before lighting them one at a time and placing them in the bowl. Be sure you ensure your safety as you do this by making sure that water is readily available and close at hand. Some variations of this activity suggest burning white sage during this activity. As the papers burn, imagine that you are being released and are now free. You may also repeat the affirmation "I am free" , "I am healed", "I am changed", "I have forgiven", etc. depending on what you put into the bowl. When the ashes have cooled, scatter them or bury them outside with the belief that you have put this issue to rest.

PURPOSE: This activity might be helpful for anyone struggling with things that they do not wish to carry into the new year. The ritual of a burning bowl is symbolic and some clients may find it a spiritual experience pushing them towards healing and change. 

NEW LOCATION: We continue to grow and expand here at NCRC. Due to our increase in size, we have added a new location in the South Loop neighborhood at 1136 S. Delano Ct, Chicago, IL 60605! Our new office is located inside of the Roosevelt Collection, a contemporary retail space with quick access to major expressways, public transportation and free 90-minute validated parking. Therapists, Nosheen Hydari, LMFT , Monique L. Brown, AMFT, and LaTrice Wright, LFMT are currently seeing clients in our new space!  

NEW MONTHLY THERAPIST SPOTLIGHT:
Each month we will highlight a different therapist at our practice for their contributions to NCRC and to the therapy community. We recognize that each of our therapists possess unique qualities and skills that make them the amazing clinicians they have become. Monthly, we will share insight from one member of our NCRC team! December's spotlight is on Anikó Blake, AMFT.

1. Why did you decide to become a therapist?

The therapist’s role, and the therapeutic environment, appealed to me at a very early age. Witnessing by proxy the shifts that can occur through the power of a human-to-human relationship had me in awe. Relationships continue to be a fascination of mine, and the basis from which I center my readings, research, and curiosities. I am a life-long learner of the endless facets of human connection. Being a therapist has been a rewarding medium to help others help themselves in making the most of the relationships in their lives- including the one they have with themselves.

2. How do you think change happens?

Change happens when we perceive opportunity in our lives. Sometimes change is a matter of shifting from one ‘place’ or ‘state’ to another that we predict, plan for, or are required to face. From partnered to single, from adolescence to adulthood, from healthy to chronically sick. Yet, often it occurs by bravely stepping into a state of unknowingness, and leaving the safety and security of our previous reality behind. It is less about knowing where we are going, but having a plan for moving. What I find beautiful about embracing uncertainty is it makes room for ‘arrivals’ along the way that we may be unaware are possible. Uncertainty thrives on creativity, internal strength, relational endurance, and hope. This practice allows for change to happen in the now, and also provides a practice for how to create it in the future. True change cannot be taught or gifted, it must be created and owned by the person seeking it.

3. Do you have a certain therapeutic style, method, or model of therapy that you generally use?

My work is guided by the belief that how we interact with ourselves and our surroundings at one point served a useful purpose- or perhaps still does. Sometimes these purposes are made useful by our families or communities, and may be learned intuitively. Therapy can be the process of relieving ourselves from continuing thoughts and behaviors that no longer suit our goals or fit our values. It is a rewarding experience in therapy when my clients can find new ways of being with themselves and others that reflects their complete, authentic self.

4. What is your educational and professional background? 

I was born and raised in Chicago, and attended both private and public schools throughout my education. My undergraduate studies were completed at DePaul University in psychology, with a focus on human development and interpersonal communication. An interest in the role of words and dialogue in intimate relationships lead me to complete an honors research project and paper, which focused on the use of swear words in couples’ conflict. Main finding: it depends! My continued interest in the intersection of culture, family-of-origin, gender, race, and other forms of identity in relationships brought me to The Family Institute at Northwestern University. In their Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy Program I completed two years of rigorous coursework, over five-hundred hours of hands-on therapy experience, and contributed to the development of a pre-marital workshop. 

5. Do you have a specific focus or interest in your clinical work?

During graduate school, I received my Prepare/Enrich Facilitator certification. I am passionate about helping couples, particularly in the early stages of their relationship, in creating a foundation for long-lasting relational well-being. Often this is work is conducted in a relational context, but truly the work starts from within each person. It brings me great fulfillment to see couples collaborate on creating a relationship worth wanting, while developing more self-awareness and compassion in the process.

Beginning this month, I will also co-lead a women’s group with Meredith Cohn Srivastava, a neighbor psychotherapist at our Northside clinic. This is a weekly group, focusing on identity and self-awareness, that has been running for five years. In the future, I plan to create additional groups centered around challenges I frequently see clients facing, not limited to: healing after an abortion, transition into parenthood, and expanding relational self-awareness. 

Starting next year, I will also be obtaining extra clinical experience in systemic-based Play Therapy. This method of therapy is a wonderful medium for children to best communicate and grow through using the developmentally appropriate language of play. In the future, I plan on integrating these tools in adult and family psychotherapy, as well, as they can be a wonderful way to boost the creative thinking that is often set aside in adulthood. A favorite quote of mine, by George Bernard Shaw, is “We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” I am excited to see the ways I may assist my clients through using play to express thoughts, emotions, and experiences to help them reach their therapeutic goals and improve their overall well-being.

Anikó currently sees clients at our Ravenswood location. 

She can be reached by phone at (773) 242-7276.

NEW CONTENT: Every month, this newsletter will be filled with important updates on NCRC's events, news about our therapists, advice on various clinical problems, and more! You will not want to miss it! Don't want to wait a full month? Keep up with us on social media! Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter!