AMANDA L CUTTING
CLINICAL COUNSELOR / ART THERAPIST / LCPC ATR
"Courage doesn’t happen when you have all the answers. It happens when you are ready to face the questions."
- Shannon L. Alder
Clinical Counseling and Art Therapy
Are you struggling with authentically connecting with others and yourself? Do you often feel lost, isolated, rejected, abandoned, or riddled with self-doubt? Trauma and anxiety can have a profound impact on how we connect with others and ourselves. Our brains do a magnificent job of creating defense mechanisms to protect us during a crucial time of development and survival. When those defense mechanisms no longer serve us they can become obstacles in our lives and relationships, and can create damaging emotional patterns that leave us feeling lonely and misunderstood.
As a registered art therapist and trauma-informed clinical counselor with over 20 years of experience, you can be assured that I am very passionate and committed to helping people on their healing journey. Together we will collaborate on identifying your specific goals to move towards a more fulfilling and integrated life. Sometimes we have a hard time defining what those goals should be, or where to begin. I can help you explore and bring to light those significant emotional and relational needs. My practice believes in a pragmatic and sensitive approach to developing creative and practical intervention strategies to work towards emotional progress and healing. Together we will formulate a goal driven and individualized treatment plan that will lead to more successful connections with others, a deeper understanding of self, and healthier behavior patterns that open up life’s opportunities.
I am also trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing ) which is a very effective and extensively researched therapy that involves an integrative psychotherapy approach for the treatment of trauma.
I strive to provide a nonjudgmental and open setting to allow clients the comfortability to explore deeply emotional issues, and nurture the courage to navigate the healing process. If you feel like we would make a good team please feel free to reach out via email for a faster response, or schedule a free phone consultation today.
Art Therapy
In addition to being a therapist, I am also a visual artist. I strongly believe in the power of the creative process, and believe it is essential to promoting balance and healing within oneself.
Art therapy can be a very unique and non confrontational avenue to unlocking internal conflict. No artistic skill or formal training is required to experience the benefits of combining this approach with traditional psychotherapy. By combining a visual and verbal process the brain is being bilaterally stimulated, thus allowing access to deeper sensory memory recall and processing.
The American Art Therapy Association defines art therapy as, “Art therapy is a mental health profession in which clients, facilitated by the art therapist, use art media, the creative process, and the resulting artwork to explore their feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness, manage behavior and addictions, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce anxiety, and increase self-esteem. A goal in art therapy is to improve or restore a client’s functioning and his or her sense of personal well-being. Art therapy practice requires knowledge of visual art (drawing, painting, sculpture, and other art forms) and the creative process, as well as of human development, psychological, and counseling theories and techniques.”
For more information about Art Therapy, please visit: http://www.arttherapy.org/upload/whatisarttherapy.pdf
Services & Fees
Insurance Coverage
I am an in network provider for Blue Cross Blue Shield of IL (PPO) health insurance.
I may also be able to accept Out-of-Network benefits for other insurance companies. You may need to submit these claims yourself in order to receive reimbursement. If you contact your insurance company and ask about Behavioral Health benefits for outpatient psychotherapy in an office setting, you can get a quote for the amount you may owe per session.
I accept the following methods of payment:
Cash, Check, or Credit/Debit (Visa or MasterCard)
Services:
Initial Intake session:
$200 (60-90 minutes)
Individual Session:
$175 (50 minutes)
Couples/Family Session:
$200 (50 minutes)
Forms & Documents
Please fill out and bring with you the following forms before your initial session:
Contact Me
Questions? Need to make an appointment?
Call 773-492-0661 from 9:00 am – 9:00 pm (Monday - Friday) or send me a message here.
24 hours needed for all cancellations.