Chante Woods, LCSW, MFT

Welcome to this space—one intentionally created to encourage, empower, and walk alongside those seeking emotional, spiritual, and relational healing. My name is Chante Woods, and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Doctoral Candidate in Couples & Family Therapy. As a Black woman raised on the West Side of Chicago in the Austin community, I understand the layered realities, resilience, and complexity of growing up in urban Chicago. These roots shape my commitment to culturally responsive, liberation-centered, and spiritually aligned care.

My social work career has spanned a wide range of communities and systems. I have served specialized foster teens, LGBTQ youth, pregnant and parenting adolescents, and group homes dedicated to teenage girls. I supported families through prenatal social work in the Lawndale community and spent several years as a medical and psychiatric social worker within a major hospital system—work that affirmed my passion for trauma healing, systemic advocacy, and whole-person wellness. Throughout every role, I have remained deeply committed to honoring the lived experiences of marginalized populations and providing care that sees beyond symptoms into the fullness of someone's story.

As the founder of Phoenix Rising Counseling & Guidance, my vision is to create more than a private practice. Phoenix Rising is a refuge—a place where people from marginalized communities can access competent, compassionate, and culturally grounded behavioral health care. Our practice integrates mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual healing, challenging oppressive narratives and creating space for people to rewrite their story from a place of empowerment and wholeness.

I specialize in supporting Black women, couples, and families navigating generational trauma, identity wounds, mother–daughter ruptures, self-abandonment, and the burdens of being “the strong one.” My work blends systemic therapy, themes of womanism and liberation psychology, and spiritual healing practices to guide clients toward liberation, self-reclamation, and embodied growth. In addition to clinical work, I am dedicated to teaching, research, and community education—ensuring that future therapists and emerging leaders are equipped with culturally responsive, justice-oriented frameworks.

The providers at Phoenix Rising share this mission. Each clinician brings unique training, lived experience, and therapeutic approaches, allowing us to meet a wide range of concerns, traumas, and complexities with skill, compassion, and intentionality. Together, we are committed to supporting the healing journeys of individuals, couples, and families with warmth, humility, and care.

Phoenix Rising is here to hold space for your transformation—to accompany you as you rise from generational wounds, reconnect with your inner wisdom, and step fully into the life your spirit has been longing for and Heal, Rise & Soar! 

*Chante is currently accepting new clients

Education

Bachelors of Social Work- Western Illinois University, 2012

Masters of Social Work- Aurora University, 2014

Doctorate in Couples & Family Therapy- Adler University (In Progress)

Illinois Licensed Clinical Social Worker- 149021220

Minnesota Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker- 34487