Young Adulthood or College Student Therapy Chicago
2nd Story Counseling | College Student & Young Adult Therapist in Chicago’s Lakeview
📍 655 W Irving Park Rd #204, Chicago, IL 60613 | 📞 773-528-1777
If you are a college student in Chicago or a young adult navigating life after graduation, you already know that this season of life can be exhilarating, disorienting, and exhausting — sometimes all at once. At 2nd Story Counseling, we specialize in therapy for college students and young adults who are figuring out who they are, what they want, and how to get through the day when it all feels like too much.
Our Lakeview office serves students and young adults from across Chicago’s North Side, with telehealth therapy available throughout Illinois for those who prefer virtual sessions or are attending school outside the city.
🎓 Therapy for College Students & Young Adults Near Lakeview, Wrigleyville, and Chicago’s North Side
Our Lakeview office offers therapy for college students and young adults in Chicago from a location that is easy to reach from many North Side neighborhoods and nearby campuses. We are located at 655 W. Irving Park Road, Suite 204, near Pine Grove Avenue, Broadway, Sheridan Road, Clark Street, and the Sheridan Red Line station.
Students and young adults often come to us from Lakeview, Wrigleyville, Buena Park, Uptown, Northalsted, Ravenswood, Andersonville, Lincoln Park, Roscoe Village, North Center, Edgewater, Rogers Park, and Lincoln Square. Our office is also accessible for students connected to nearby Chicago schools and campuses, including DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago, North Park University, Northeastern Illinois University, UIC, and other local colleges.
🚇 For clients using public transportation, our office is close to the CTA Red Line at Sheridan and accessible by nearby bus routes along Irving Park Road, Broadway, Clark Street, and Sheridan Road. For those driving, street parking may be available in the surrounding area, though availability can vary depending on the time of day, Cubs games, neighborhood events, and general traffic around Lakeview and Wrigleyville.
🌿 Whether you are coming by CTA, rideshare, bike, or car, our goal is to make accessing young adult therapy in Chicago feel practical, private, and supportive. In-person counseling is available at our Lakeview office, and secure telehealth therapy is available for college students and young adults throughout Illinois.
Why Young Adults Seek Therapy
The years between 18 and 30 are among the most psychologically demanding of a person’s life. You are building an identity, establishing independence, navigating relationships, and making decisions that feel enormous — often without much of a roadmap. It is no surprise that this is when many people first seek therapy.
Common reasons college students and young adults come to 2SC include:
🎓 Common Reasons Young Adults Start Therapy
- Anxiety about the future — uncertainty about career, relationships, and what comes next
- Career uncertainty — major doubts, job searching anxiety, early career confusion — see our career counseling page
- Depression and persistent low mood — feeling stuck, empty, or disconnected
- Dating and relationships — communication, attachment patterns, breakups, and first serious partnerships
- Family conflict — navigating changing dynamics with parents and siblings as you become an adult
- Academic stress and pressure to perform
- ADHD and executive functioning — focus, time management, procrastination, and follow-through
- Social anxiety — difficulty making friends, fear of judgment, avoiding social situations
- Identity exploration — values, sexuality, gender, cultural background, and who you actually are
- Moving to Chicago after graduation — starting over in a new city without your built-in support network
- Quarter-life crisis — the feeling that you are already behind, doing it wrong, or missing something essential
- Trauma and past experiences surfacing in new ways now that you have more distance from them
- LGBTQ+ identity and affirming care — coming out, navigating identity, finding community — see our LGBTQ+ therapy page
Chicago Colleges We Commonly Serve
Our therapists work with students and recent graduates from across Chicago’s university community. We regularly serve students from:
- DePaul University — Lincoln Park and Loop campuses
- University of Illinois Chicago (UIC)
- Loyola University Chicago — Rogers Park and Water Tower campuses
- Northwestern University — Evanston and Chicago campuses
- Columbia College Chicago
- Roosevelt University
Students from these schools commonly come to us dealing with academic pressure, social anxiety, career uncertainty, relationship challenges, and the particular stress of building a life in a demanding city while still figuring out who they are. Our Lakeview office is easily accessible from the North Side, and telehealth makes it simple for students attending schools across the city or suburbs.
Many college students also find that the concerns they bring to therapy eventually evolve into questions about direction, purpose, and identity that look a lot like a quarter-life crisis — and that is exactly the kind of work we do well at 2SC.
How We Help: Therapy Approaches for College Students & Young Adults
Our therapists draw on a range of evidence-based approaches, matched to your specific needs and goals. You are not going to be handed a one-size-fits-all treatment plan.
🧠 Therapy Approaches We Use
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) — identifies and reshapes the thought patterns driving anxiety, depression, and avoidance
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) — helps you move toward what matters even when difficult thoughts and feelings are present
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills — emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness
- Solution-Focused Therapy — practical, goal-oriented work for clients who want to move forward quickly
- Internal Family Systems (IFS) — works with the inner critic, the perfectionist, the part that shuts down — especially useful for identity questions and self-worth
- Mindfulness-based approaches — building awareness and reducing reactivity
- Career counseling — integrated into therapy for clients working through direction, purpose, and professional identity
- Trauma-informed care — for students and young adults carrying experiences that shaped them before they had words for it
Therapy for the Quarter-Life Transition
One of the most common — and least talked about — experiences of this age is the quarter-life crisis: the feeling that you should have more figured out by now, that everyone else seems to be moving forward while you feel stuck, that the life you imagined hasn’t materialized the way you expected.
This is not a character flaw. It is a developmental reality that our culture does a poor job of acknowledging. Therapy is one of the few places where you can actually put it on the table, explore what is underneath it, and start building something that is genuinely yours — not the version of success your parents, peers, or Instagram feed told you to want.
Our therapists are experienced in the quarter-life transition and bring a no-judgment, collaborative approach to this work. If this resonates, we’d encourage you to also visit our dedicated Quarter-Life Crisis Counseling page.
Therapists Who Work With College Students & Young Adults
When you reach out, we will match you with a therapist whose background and approach fit your specific needs. Here are several of our clinicians who specialize in working with this age group:
Brendan Wolter, MSW, LSW
Staff Therapist
Strengths-based therapist specializing in anxiety, depression, identity exploration, life transitions, and men’s issues. Warm, collaborative style with a focus on building a life worth showing up for.
Laura Bartz, MA, LSW, CADC
Staff Therapist
Specializes in anxiety, depression, trauma, addiction, and LGBTQ+ affirming care. CBT and mindfulness-based approach in a warm, strengths-focused therapeutic space.
Grace Heaney, MA, LPC
Staff Therapist
Holistic, solution-focused approach with expertise in anxiety, depression, body image, ADHD, life transitions, and LGBTQ+ identities. EMDR trained.
Frank Lotta, MA, LPC
Staff Therapist
CBT-based therapist with a background in corporate management and sales. Understands career stress, anxiety, and LGBTQ+ issues from both clinical and real-world experience.
Rebecca Burt, MA, LPC
Staff Therapist
Trauma-informed specialist with IFS, DBT, and TF-CBT training. Works with complex trauma, PTSD, anxiety, dissociation, and identity. MA from Northwestern, currently PhD candidate.
View our full therapist directory to learn more about all of our clinicians.
⭐ Why Choose 2nd Story Counseling?
- Therapists with genuine experience working with college students and young adults
- Evidence-based approaches matched to your specific needs — not a one-size-fits-all model
- Affirming care for LGBTQ+ students and young adults
- Comfortable, private office in Lakeview — accessible from Chicago’s North Side
- Telehealth available throughout Illinois
- Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO accepted; self-pay and sliding scale options
- Flexible scheduling including evening appointments
- Over 20 years serving Chicago’s young adult community
This time of life is hard in ways that are real and valid — and therapy can make a genuine difference. You do not need to be in crisis to benefit from it. You just need to be willing to show up.
Ready to get started? Call us at (773) 528-1777 or reach out through our confidential online contact form. We will match you with the right therapist and get you scheduled.
Frequently Asked Questions: College Student & Young Adult Therapy in Chicago
Do you work with college students?
Yes — this is one of our core specialties. We regularly work with students from DePaul, UIC, Loyola, Northwestern, Columbia College, Roosevelt, and other Chicago-area schools. Our therapists understand the specific pressures of college life and approach that work with genuine experience.
Do you offer virtual therapy for college students?
Yes. Telehealth sessions are available for anyone in Illinois. Many college students prefer the flexibility of virtual therapy, especially during busy academic periods or when they are home during breaks.
What if I’m attending school outside of Chicago?
As long as you are physically located in Illinois during your sessions, you can work with our therapists via telehealth. Many students attending schools in the suburbs or downstate find this makes consistent care much more manageable.
Can I use insurance for college student therapy?
We accept Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO. Depending on your plan, therapy sessions may be covered. Visit our fees page for more detail, or contact us and we can help clarify what your insurance covers.
How often do sessions occur?
Most clients start with weekly sessions, which tend to build momentum and give the therapeutic relationship time to develop. Some clients shift to bi-weekly once they have made initial progress. Your therapist will discuss frequency with you based on your goals and schedule.
Can therapy help with career decisions and major uncertainty?
Absolutely. Questions about career direction, major choice, and what to do after graduation are among the most common things young adults bring to therapy. Our therapists can address these both from a practical career counseling standpoint and from a deeper identity and values perspective.
What is a quarter-life crisis and can therapy help?
A quarter-life crisis is the disorientation many young adults feel when life doesn’t match what they expected — feeling behind, stuck, or like they’re missing something everyone else seems to have figured out. It’s real, it’s common, and it responds well to therapy. We have a dedicated page on this topic if you want to learn more.
Do you provide affirming care for LGBTQ+ students?
Yes. Our practice is affirming for students and young adults of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Several of our therapists have specialized experience with LGBTQ+ affirming care, including coming out, identity exploration, and navigating queer life in Chicago.