Italian Therapists in Illinois | Chicago & Evanston

Why cultural context matters in therapy

What changes when you don't have to explain the background.

Living across cultures shapes how you experience yourself — in relationships, at work, in moments of stress or grief. The patterns are not always easy to see from the inside, or to describe to someone who hasn't lived them.

Working with a therapist who shares some of that context can change what becomes possible in the room. You spend less time translating the weight of a memory or a relationship, and more time understanding what it means to you. That holds whether the work is about anxiety, depression, trauma, isolation, a cross-cultural relationship, a transition you didn't choose, or something else entirely.

Being Italian in the United States is not a single experience. It looks different depending on when you or your family arrived, where you came from, and the other parts of your identity that don't fit into "Italian" alone. The therapists in this directory aim to work with that complexity.

The Italian community in Illinois

From long-established neighborhoods to recent arrivals.

Italians have lived in Illinois for over a century. Neighborhoods like Little Italy and Taylor Street trace back to earlier waves of immigration, and the broader Italian-American presence extends across Chicago and into Evanston, Oak Park, Naperville, and elsewhere in the state.

The community today is varied. It includes Italian-American families whose roots here go back generations, recent immigrants, graduate students at Northwestern and the University of Chicago, professionals across industries, cross-cultural families, and people who arrived for one reason and stayed for another.

These paths are different from each other, and the kind of support that is useful is different too. This directory exists to make it easier to find a therapist who can hold that variation, in either language.

How we work

Areas the therapists in this directory commonly support.

Individual therapy

Support for anxiety, depression, trauma, stress, grief, and questions of identity and belonging that come up when you have lived across cultures.

Couples therapy

Communication, intimacy, and the practical realities of cross-cultural relationships — including relationships where one partner is Italian and one is not, and ones where both are.

Cultural adjustment

Immigration as an ongoing experience, not a single event. Includes recent moves, long-settled lives, the experience of isolation, and the periods when something familiar suddenly feels far away.

Academic & career transitions

Graduate school, postdoc life, imposter feelings, and the experience of building a career or completing training in a system whose norms differ from the one you trained in.

Telehealth sessions

Most therapists in this directory offer secure video sessions, available across PSYPACT states.

In-person sessions

Some therapists offer in-person sessions. Individual profiles list locations and availability.

Therapists practicing in Illinois

Licensed psychologists offering therapy in Italian and English.

Francesco Belviso, PhD, PsyD

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Profile

Each therapist practices independently. You can reach out to any of them directly through their profile.

Common Questions

What you might be wondering before reaching out.

Not at all. While all therapists in our directory offer therapy in both Italian and English, many clients prefer to work primarily in Italian or switch between languages as feels natural. What matters most is that you feel comfortable expressing yourself.

The experience of being Italian in America changes over time, but it doesn't disappear. Whether you arrived recently or decades ago, the questions that bring people to therapy — relationships, work, identity, loss — can still carry a cultural layer worth working with. Many clients have been here for a long time and still find it useful to work with someone who shares that background.

Some therapists in our directory offer in-person sessions. Check individual therapist profiles for locations and availability. All therapists also offer secure telehealth sessions, so therapy is accessible regardless of where you live.

Yes. Therapists in our directory are authorized to practice telepsychology under PSYPACT, which allows them to see clients remotely across most U.S. states. This means the therapist you work with may be physically based in another state but fully credentialed to provide care in yours.

Yes. Many international students and academics find it useful to work with a therapist who has navigated graduate school in the U.S. system themselves. Our therapists are familiar with the pressures of qualifying exams, dissertation work, postdoc transitions, visa stress, and the long-distance dynamics that often come with academic life.

Browse the profiles to read about each therapist's background, approach, and areas of focus. When someone seems like a possible fit, contact them directly. Most offer an initial consultation so you can get a sense of whether it feels right before committing.

Each therapist in our directory handles billing independently. Individual therapist profiles may indicate whether they are in-network with specific insurance plans — most commonly Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare / Optum, and Aetna. For therapists who are out-of-network, most can provide documentation for out-of-network reimbursement. Contact the specific therapist you are interested in to discuss their fees and payment options.

Contact Us

Tell us what you need and we'll quickly direct you to the right person. If you're unsure who to contact, choose "General Inquiries" and we'll guide you.

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General Inquiries

Francesco Belviso

PhD, PsyD

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