Taylor Newendorp

Background

While completing my M.A. in Marital and Family Therapy from University of San Diego, I worked at an outpatient substance abuse treatment center where I provided therapy for adolescents and their family members. After graduating, I moved to Chicago and began working at a local behavioral health hospital, first as a therapist in their Eating Disorder program and later as both a therapist and clinical supervisor in their Center for Anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorders. I have completed the International OCD Foundation’s (IOCDF) Behavioral Therapy Training Institute and am currently a board member for OCD Midwest (a division of IOCDF). In addition, I am a clinical advisor for the CBT-based app and online treatment program “NOCD” and provide clinical training in evidence-based treatment for their OCD specialists.

To me, one of the most important parts of counseling is the therapeutic relationship itself. I enjoy getting to know who people are separate from any type of diagnosis they may have received or problems they are currently experiencing. Thus I take a strengths-based approach to my work, meaning that I help you identify positive qualities and abilities you already possess in order to guide you in using those same assets and capabilities to manage intense emotions, improve your self-esteem, and strengthen your relationships.

I commonly use Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques to assist you in understanding how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors all influence one another. Much of what we feel and how we act stems from what we think, either about ourselves or about others and the world around us; by learning how to identify and challenge negative and self-destructive thoughts, we can better handle our emotional reactions in any given situation.