Mary Leighton, LPC
I am a former socio-cultural anthropologist with a masters degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from DePaul University. I specialize in providing mental health counseling to academics and immigrants.
At my two current sites, Clarity Clinic in Evanston & Trellus in Chicago, I work with adult clients from a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences on issues like loneliness, interpersonal challenges, depression or anxiety, and life transitions.
Therapeutic Approach
As an existential therapist I believe no situation is completely hopeless.
Questioning something that defines your identity is frightening, whether it is a career, a relationship, your gender, or your religious faith.
It’s normal to feel stuck or overwhelmed when we are confused or in pain. My role is to walk alongside you.
My personal style is sympathetic and straight-forward, and I bring a sense of humor, honesty, and compassion to my sessions.
The options we face might be painful or have messy consequences: changes may temporarily cause things to get a lot worse before eventually becoming permanently better. But you don’t have to face this alone!
As a therapist I provide clients with a supportive and non-judgmental space to explore all possible options, so they can rediscover their strengths and core values and make their own decisions. I work with adult clients of all genders, religious backgrounds, and in every life-stage.
Find out more about my work on specific areas below.
And feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
Topics I specialize in or where I make a specific effort to receive consistent, ongoing training
People working in Academia
There is an urgent need for mental health services for academics.
Not just college counseling programs for undergraduates, but also for the 'adults': the adjuncts, ABDs, tenure-track faculty, and contingent faculty don't necessarily want to go to run into their students in the waiting room.
As an anthropologist, I studied scientific communities and the structure of higher education institutions in the US and in Latin America. What I learnt is that the ivory tower is built on depression, anxiety, and untreated trauma.
As a therapist, my goal is to take what I have learnt from studying academics, and use it to help individuals survive and flourish in what is often a lonely and unsupportive career.
I currently offer individual and couples counseling specifically tailored to academics. In the future I also be developing consultation and workshops for departments.
For individuals, this can involve addressing issues like burnout, anxiety, procrastination, imposter-syndrome, and depression/trauma during fieldwork. Group therapy will focus on topics like leaving academia, bullying, post-tenure depression, etc.
Workshops for anthropology departments specifically can focus on topics such as preparing grad students for mental health challenges during fieldwork, dealing with the pressures of the job market, or managing the post-field transition.
LGBTQ+ CLIENTS
I welcome clients of all genders and sexualities! My goal as a therapist is to create a helpful and supportive space, in which you can reach your full potential as a human being. That might involve helping you figure out how you feel about your gender, or navigate a new relationship. I will do all I can to support you.
Then again, your therapeutic goals might have nothing to do with your LGBTQ+ identities. In that case, I will follow your lead and not assume that it is the only relevant issue in your life.
During our sessions I try and balance not making assumptions with not forcing you to educate me. The session is your time - you shouldn't have to waste time explaining stuff to your clueless therapist! I will do my research. And yet, there is always also the awareness that everyone's gender journey is unique and we all have different sexual histories.
FIRST AND SECOND GENERATION IMMIGRANTS
All our immigrant stories are unique. I strive to balance asking you for clarification with doing my own research.
Moving to a new country is a major life event, but it's also an ongoing process. New issues arise at different life stages, as we build lives that bridge two (or more) cultures.
At Trellus I work with individuals and families who are navigating life as either first or second generation immigrants.
I bring my personal experience as an immigrant to the U.S. to my work as a therapist, but I don't make it the center of my approach. My experience of making a life in a new country will not be the same as yours.
I continue to seek out trauma-informed training in counseling refugees, and to educate myself about the immigration histories of the populations I work with.
CULTS, QANON, AND COERCIVE CONTROL
I have sought out training in working with individuals and family members who have suffered from abuse in intimate relationships. Both individuals and groups of people can be victims of 'coercive control', a form of interpersonal abuse that involves threats, intimidation, humiliation, and abuse, and sometimes - but not always - physical violence.
It can occur in domestic relationships: for example when the perpetrator is a spouse or parent. But it can also occur in groups when a single person controls the behavior of their followers or dependents. This dynamic is often found in groups we term 'cults'.
Since the covid pandemic there has been an increased need to therapists who are able to work with people affected by conspiracy theories and extremist groups like QAnon. I welcome clients who are either questioning their own beliefs, or who are struggling to understand a family member.
More information about & resources on coercive control are on this separate page.