Ruth Tekeste Dicks, LPC, NCC

Hi, I’m so glad you’re here! My name is Ruth Tekeste Dicks, and I’m a Licensed Professional and Nationally Board Certified Counselor. I’m a Chicago native born to Eritrean immigrants, so I know what it is to juggle very different cultural identities.  As a counselor in private practice and former educator in urban and suburban schools, I’ve supported teens and adults with anxiety, depression, trauma, life transitions, grief, those who are part of the LGTBQUIA+ community, and more. 

It’s too easy to be overwhelmed with life’s challenges and everything you feel you “should” be doing.  I will support you in gently facing those truths too difficult to face alone and practicing the power of positive thinking, gratitude, and being kinder to yourself. At your pace and without judgment, we will process your family history and trauma, and you will come to understand their effects on your relationships and life. We’ll explore the connections between your thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and triggers so you can make positive changes to heal and move toward peace, balance, and joy.

Through therapy sessions, you will (re)discover holistic coping tools that tap into your strengths and build you up.  Sometimes we’ll laugh and sometimes we’ll cry. I will be with you every step of the way uplifting, encouraging, and empowering you to set boundaries, communicate more assertively, take better care of yourself, move with more intention, and reach your goals. You will be able to envision things for yourself that you perhaps could not before.

I graciously invite you to share your full world with me. I will see and honor all parts of your identity, and help you do the same.  I use Eye Movement, Desensitization, and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy. I am an eclectic therapist and will ultimately tailor my approach to best meet your unique needs, which could also include strengths-based, trauma-informed, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, and narrative therapy. I utilize accepting; intersectional; feminist; multicultural; decolonized;  antiracist; antioppressive;  and LGTBQUIA+, kink, and poly-affirming lenses in therapy. I welcome you whatever your cultural background, religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and I look forward to partnering with you on your wellness journey!