Caroline Quintanilla
----- Licensed Clinical Social Worker/Therapist
(she/her/hers)
Caroline Quintanilla, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is a sincere, energetic, and progressive in-office and online therapist in Chicago who specializes in the treatment of adolescents, adults, and couples struggling with Relationship Issues, Eating Disorders, Sexuality Concerns and Sexual Trauma, Race/Diversity Concerns, Substance Use/Addictions, Anxiety, Depression, and Life Transitions.
Caroline Quintanilla is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign’s Bachelors and Masters of Social Work programs with a dual specialty in clinical mental health and health care. Her higher level coursework involved independent study within the realms of disordered eating and body image concerns, as well as issues of sexuality (sexual health, issues within the context of partnerships, dysfunction, and sexual trauma). She has had a range of experiences providing individual, group, and family/couples therapy in all levels of mental health care, particularly within eating disorder treatment.
She values the relationship between client and therapist as the true gateway to therapeutic relief and progress. She operates from the philosophy that her clients are already whole, rather than broken, and works towards empowerment as her clients learn how to step into their own unique selves. In working with relationships, she is sex positive, works with many types of partnerships and identifies as affirming of consensual non-monogamous relationships. She prioritizes preserving partnerships for as long as all partners are driven.
A note from Caroline:
I decided to become a therapist because I'm profoundly lucky to have had my own experiences with therapy where it was my refuge. To me, providing a similar space where my clients can feel nurtured, protected, and uplifted is paramount. Spaces like this are so crucial in a world that often tells us that how we exist in the world is wrong. My therapy style can best be described as relaxed, comforting, and spirited, as my clients - their stories, livelihoods, and pursuit of themselves holistically and authentically - become deeply important to me. In my spare time, I love to run in the sunshine, online shop, smell new books, remind my loved ones about how much I love them, and eat apples with crunchy peanut butter.
Within all of her therapeutic work, she utilizes an eclectic and straight forward approach, peppered with humor and compassion, and emphasizes the relational and process-oriented aspects of therapy for client-centered care. She highly prioritizes collaborating with clients during the creation of their own treatment plans, which is always an eclectic mix of frameworks, but often incorporating CBT, DBT, ACT, IFS, Narrative, and Expressive modalities. In work with couples, her treatment approach pulls from Emotionally Focused Therapy and Gottman methods. She treats from a lens considering social justice, humanistic, psychodynamic, and strengths-based approaches. She believes that you are free to start over.
While her office is located in downtown Chicago next to Millenium park for in-person sessions, she also welcomes and serves clients for online therapy from anywhere in Illinois. Clients from the Chicagoland area may choose in-office or online therapy and usually commute from surrounding areas such as River North, South Loop, West Loop, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lake View, Logan Square, Wicker Park, Bucktown and many more.