Laura Bartz

You deserve a therapist who offers a warm, safe, and caring environment that empowers change.

Laura Bartz is a dedicated clinician who strongly believes in the inherent worth and deep healing potential within every individual. Recognizing that our unique life experiences, cultural backgrounds, and personal circumstances profoundly shape our emotions and how we express them, Laura’s primary aim is to cultivate an inclusive therapeutic space that is comforting, accepting, and culturally humble.

Through an empowering, strengths-based approach, she guides clients across the greater Chicago area in understanding the profound influence of their thoughts on their behaviors and emotions, helping them reclaim agency over their lives.

Areas of Clinical Specialty

In her practice at 2nd Story Counseling, Laura provides a supportive environment tailored to adults, professionals, and young adults navigating complex emotional and transitional hurdles. Her core areas of expertise include:

• Women’s Issues & Empowerment: Specialized support addressing the unique societal, relational, biological, and systemic stressors facing women across the lifespan.
• College Student & Young Adult Mental Health: Helping college students and young professionals manage academic anxiety, imposter syndrome, and school-to-work transitions.
• Mood & Emotional Regulation: Compassionate care for persistent depression, chronic anxiety, and the development of highly practical, everyday coping strategies.
• Trauma & PTSD Recovery: Safe, structured clinical interventions to help individuals process past trauma, dismantle emotional roadblocks, and overcome complex PTSD symptoms.
• Grief, Loss, & Bereavement: Providing a gentle, dedicated space to navigate life after significant loss, life alterations, or major life transitions and feeling stuck.
• Identity & Relational Support: Resolving deep-seated relationship problems, supporting individuals through substance and behavioral addictions, and providing safe, welcoming care for LGBTQ & queer-identifying adults.
• Advanced Mindset Modalities: Integrating evidence-based mindfulness practices to foster emotional grounding, self-acceptance, and long-term personal growth.

Laura’s clinical specialization lies in working with individuals, relationships, and groups, effectively addressing diverse challenges related to trauma, addiction, anxiety, and depression. Additionally, she offers specialized clinical insight into treating eating disorders and resolving complex relationship difficulties. It is her enduring professional commitment to creating a safe, affirming, and liberating space for LGBTQIA+ individuals, providing a deeply nurturing environment for sustainable healing and authentic personal growth. Laura sees clients in person at the 2nd Story Counseling office near Chicago’s historic Boystown neighborhood, as well as virtually via secure telehealth.

In her clinical practice, Laura draws dynamically from a comprehensive range of evidence-based treatment modalities, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). These modern, clinically proven approaches have consistently demonstrated effectiveness in dismantling negative thought loops, promoting positive behavioral change, and cultivating overall psychological well-being. For those ready to embark on or continue their mental health journey, Laura is enthusiastic to partner with them and provide the steady, structured support needed throughout the entire process.

Background, Education & Advanced Certifications

Laura earned her graduate degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a dedicated specialization in addictions from Loyola University Chicago. She is a highly credentialed mental health professional, practicing as a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) in the state of Illinois. Demonstrating a rigorous commitment to advanced clinical excellence, Laura is also a Certified Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Counselor (CADC) and a Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Specialist (CCATP), equipping her with specialized, evidence-based tools to treat severe anxiety states and substance use disorders concurrently.