We are people helping people find balance in life by learning new skills, coping with difficult situations, and dealing with hardships. Let us help you find your personal balance.
Personal Balance Counseling provides compassionate, evidence-based mental health therapy for children, teens, adults, couples, and families in Orland Park and throughout Chicago’s southwest suburbs.
Our licensed therapists help clients manage anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship concerns, life transitions, emotional dysregulation, and other challenges. Services include individual therapy, couples and family counseling, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), EMDR, group therapy, and secure telehealth appointments.
Individual therapy is a personal opportunity to improve your quality of life. At Personal Balance Counseling, you work one-on-one with a licensed therapist to explore who you are, understand your unique needs, and develop practical approaches for creating a more balanced and fulfilling life. Sessions are provided in a safe, caring, and confidential environment.
How individual therapy can help
People of different ages and backgrounds seek counseling for many reasons, including anxiety, depression, trauma, anger, grief, burnout, intrusive thoughts, relationship difficulties, emotional dysregulation, and major life transitions. Others begin therapy because they want greater self-knowledge, stronger coping skills, or meaningful personal growth. You do not need to have everything figured out before reaching out.
Our approach is straightforward and collaborative. You and your therapist establish a trusted partnership, identify a starting point, clarify your therapeutic goals, and develop strategies for addressing the challenges you are facing. Together, you may explore patterns, process experiences, strengthen boundaries, improve communication, and practice skills that can be used outside the therapy office.
Therapy personalized to you
PBC clinicians use evidence-based approaches based on each client’s needs. These may include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), EMDR, mindfulness, attachment-based therapy, person-centered therapy, and trauma-informed care.
The goal is not to become a different person. It is to gain a better appreciation and understanding of yourself, respond to challenges more effectively, and build a life that feels more manageable and aligned with what matters to you. Finding personal balance is a continuous process that can evolve as your needs, circumstances, and goals change.
Individual therapy in Orland Park and nearby communities
Our Orland Park counseling office is convenient for clients from Oak Forest, Tinley Park, Lockport, Homer Glen, Mokena, and surrounding southwest Chicago suburbs. Secure telehealth appointments are also available throughout Illinois. Daytime, evening, and limited weekend availability depends on clinician schedules.
Our intake team will help match you with a therapist based on age, concerns, insurance coverage, preferred appointment time, and whether you want in-person or telehealth services.
Couples and family therapy at Personal Balance Counseling helps people understand difficult relationship patterns, communicate more effectively, and work toward healthier connection. Sessions are available at our Orland Park office and through secure telehealth across Illinois when appropriate.
When couples counseling may help
Couples often seek therapy when conversations repeatedly turn into conflict, emotional distance has grown, trust has been damaged, intimacy has changed, or a major transition is placing stress on the relationship. Counseling provides a structured place to slow those patterns down and understand what each partner is experiencing.
A couples therapist does not choose sides. The work focuses on the relationship: identifying cycles, strengthening communication, clarifying needs, rebuilding trust when possible, and helping both partners decide how they want to move forward.
Family counseling
Family therapy can support families experiencing conflict, behavioral concerns, parenting stress, trauma, separation, blended-family challenges, or changes that affect the entire household. Depending on the goals of treatment, sessions may include the full family or selected family members.
A thoughtful therapist match
Several PBC clinicians work with couples and families. Intake will help identify the best available match based on your concerns, schedule, insurance, and preferred format. If one family member already receives individual therapy at PBC, we will also consider clinical boundaries when arranging relationship or family services.
Personal Balance Counseling provides Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and DBT skills groups in Orland Park, Illinois. DBT is a practical, evidence-based treatment that helps people manage intense emotions, tolerate distress, improve relationships, and make choices that support long-term goals.
What DBT teaches
DBT balances acceptance and change: learning to understand your current experience while also building skills to respond differently. The core skill areas are mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.
These skills can be helpful for people experiencing emotional dysregulation, impulsive behaviors, self-defeating patterns, relationship instability, chronic distress, anxiety, depression, trauma-related symptoms, or features of borderline personality disorder. A clinician will determine whether DBT is appropriate for your specific needs.
Individual DBT and skills groups
DBT may include individual therapy, structured skills training, and coaching support depending on the program and clinician. Skills groups are educational and practice-focused; they are not the same as an unstructured process group. PBC offers programming for adults and teens based on current enrollment and availability.
Our intake team will gather basic information and help connect you with the appropriate clinician or group. Because DBT requires active participation and practice outside sessions, readiness, scheduling, clinical needs, and program availability are considered before enrollment.
Anxiety and depression can affect sleep, motivation, concentration, relationships, work, school, and the ability to feel present in everyday life. Personal Balance Counseling provides individualized therapy for children, teens, and adults at our Orland Park office and through secure telehealth across Illinois.
Support for anxiety
Anxiety may show up as constant worry, irritability, panic, avoidance, perfectionism, physical tension, intrusive thoughts, or feeling unable to turn your mind off. Therapy can help you understand the patterns maintaining anxiety, respond differently to distress, and build confidence in situations that currently feel overwhelming.
Support for depression
Depression may involve sadness, numbness, low energy, isolation, hopelessness, loss of interest, or difficulty completing daily tasks. Treatment is tailored to the individual and may focus on rebuilding routines, increasing meaningful activity, addressing painful thought patterns, strengthening relationships, and creating manageable steps toward change.
An individualized approach
PBC therapists use evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), mindfulness, acceptance-based strategies, attachment-focused work, and trauma-informed therapy. Your therapist will work with you to clarify goals and choose methods that fit your age, needs, and circumstances.
Anxiety and depression therapy near you
Our office serves Orland Park, Tinley Park, Oak Forest, Homer Glen, Lockport, Mokena, and nearby southwest suburbs. Intake will help match you with a therapist based on clinical needs, insurance, schedule, and preferred appointment format.
Trauma can continue affecting the mind and body long after a difficult experience has ended. Personal Balance Counseling offers trauma-informed therapy and EMDR in Orland Park for teens and adults, with secure telehealth available throughout Illinois when clinically appropriate.
When trauma therapy may help
Trauma-related symptoms can include intrusive memories, nightmares, avoidance, hypervigilance, emotional numbness, shame, irritability, difficulty trusting others, or feeling disconnected from yourself. Trauma may result from a single event, repeated experiences, unsafe relationships, loss, or long-term exposure to overwhelming circumstances.
What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy designed to help the brain process distressing experiences and reduce the intensity of trauma-related reactions. EMDR is not simply talking through every detail of an experience, and treatment is paced according to readiness, stability, and individual needs.
PBC’s EMDR-trained clinicians include Kathy Muloski, LSW, and Linzie Hartmann, LPC. Availability varies, and an intake or clinical assessment helps determine whether EMDR or another trauma-focused approach is the best fit.
Trauma treatment is collaborative
Early work may focus on safety, coping skills, emotional regulation, and understanding current symptoms before trauma processing begins. Depending on your needs, treatment may also incorporate CBT, DBT, mindfulness, attachment-focused therapy, or Internal Family Systems-informed strategies.
Our Orland Park office is convenient to Tinley Park, Oak Forest, Homer Glen, Lockport, Mokena, and surrounding southwest Chicago suburbs.
Children and teens do not always have the words to explain what is wrong. Changes in mood, behavior, sleep, school performance, friendships, or family relationships may be signs that additional support could help. Personal Balance Counseling provides child and teen therapy in Orland Park, beginning at age 6 based on clinician availability and fit.
Therapy for children
Child therapy is adapted to developmental level and may include conversation, activities, emotional-identification work, coping-skills practice, and caregiver involvement. PBC currently has clinicians who see children beginning at age 6, while other clinicians have different minimum ages. Intake will match each child with an appropriate provider rather than scheduling solely by the first available opening.
Therapy for teens
Teen therapy may address anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation, trauma, peer conflict, school pressure, identity, family stress, self-esteem, or major transitions. Treatment balances privacy with appropriate caregiver involvement, safety responsibilities, and clear expectations about communication.
Practical support for the whole family
Depending on the child’s age and treatment goals, caregivers may participate in portions of sessions, receive guidance on supporting skills at home, or attend separate family sessions. PBC clinicians may use CBT, DBT-informed skills, mindfulness, person-centered therapy, trauma-informed care, and other age-appropriate approaches.
Child and teen counseling near Orland Park
PBC serves families from Orland Park, Tinley Park, Oak Forest, Homer Glen, Lockport, Mokena, and nearby communities. In-person care is often recommended for younger children; telehealth suitability depends on age, needs, privacy, and the clinician’s judgment.
Personal Balance Counseling is not currently accepting new nutritional counseling clients while we expand our team. We intend to make this service available again after an appropriately qualified provider joins PBC.
Nutritional counseling can provide individualized support for a person’s relationship with food, nourishment, body image, and health-related goals. Care may include a non-diet, weight-neutral approach and coordination with therapists, physicians, or other members of a client’s treatment team when appropriate.
PBC’s mental health clinicians may continue to address the emotional and behavioral aspects of eating concerns within their professional scope. Medical nutrition therapy and individualized nutrition planning require care from an appropriately qualified nutrition professional.
Many of the people who seek therapy with Michelle are highly capable, thoughtful individuals who appear to have things together on the outside but feel overwhelmed, emotionally reactive, or exhausted internally. Michelle works primarily with older teens and adults navigating burnout, relationship stress, trauma, mood disorders, and emotional dysregulation.
Mary is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor who received her M.A. in Counseling from Northwestern University. She has experience in treating anxiety, depression and stress-related symptoms as well as post-traumatic stress, grief and loss, relationship issues, major life transition, addictive behavior, emerging adulthood and developmental concerns. Mary is level 3 Gottman Trained and is invested in working with couples as well.
Karissa Habel is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor who obtained her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Lewis University. She provides individual counseling to adolescents and young adults through adulthood.
Stephanie Arambula is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and a Certified Alcohol and Other Drugs Counselor (CADC). She has experience working individuals who are struggling with substance use disorders, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, trauma and self-injury behaviors. Stephanie thrives with teenage and adult clients alike who are interested in gaining control over their life and creating a life worth living.
Linzie Hartmann, LPC, is an EMDR therapist at Personal Balance Counseling in Orland Park, IL, specializing in anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship issues. She provides a compassionate, collaborative environment that integrates various therapeutic approaches, including CBT, DBT, and EMDR, to foster self-acceptance and growth while addressing clients’ unique needs.
Megan Kirkpatrick is a compassionate and dedicated Licensed Clinicial Social Worker, therapist, with a Master’s degree in Social Work from Lewis University with several years experience. She specializes in providing individual therapy for adolescents, young adults, and adults who are navigating the complexities of mental health challenges.
Sarah Lesniak, LCSW, is a dynamic and compassionate therapist who brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her practice. She earned her Master of Social Work from the University of St. Francis and has since dedicated herself to helping individuals navigate their mental health journeys. Sarah specializes in providing individual counseling to children, adolescents, and young adults, addressing challenges such as depression, anxiety, mood disorders, eating disorders, and PTSD.
Kathy Muloski, LSW is a Licensed Social Worker with a master’s degree in social work who provides therapy for teens and adults in Orland Park and the greater Chicago suburbs. She specializes in treating anxiety, depression, trauma, and life transitions using a holistic and mindfulness-based approach. Kathy is also EMDR-trained (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), offering an evidence-based option for clients looking to process and heal from past trauma.
Kathy creates a calm and supportive therapy environment where clients feel safe exploring both past and present challenges. Whether you are working through trauma, managing stress, or adjusting to life changes, she provides a grounded and compassionate space to process, heal, and grow.
Samantha Newsome is a Licensed Professional Counselor. She received her Master’s degree from Trinity Christian college in Counseling Psychology. She provides counseling to individuals, couples, adolescents, and adults of all ages and backgrounds.
Sam Pagana is a Licensed Professional Counselor who obtained her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Lewis University. She is continuing her education in a doctoral program specializing in Trauma. Sam provides individual and family counseling to clients ages 10 and up.
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