About
Rushini Jayawardena
Hey Folks! My name is Rushini, and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker or as I like to call it a "professional feelings person." I was born in Sri Lanka, moved to New York City at a young age and made my way to Chicago much later in life. I am a relational human and this shows up in the connections I make with clients. If you're looking for a "blank slate" therapist, I might not be the one for you. But if you are looking for a therapist who values authenticity, can hold patience for your pacing while also being direct when I need to, all while sprinkling in some sarcasm, then I'm your gal.
I enjoy working with adults who are processing trauma, anxiety, depression, adjustment, self-esteem, relationship struggles, familial discord, cultural and personal identity and more. I recognize there is no "one size fits all" approach to therapy so I pull from various modalities while staying rooted in trauma informed care.
Outside of the therapy room, I love having "chai & cry" hangouts with my friends, playing way too much pickleball and reading.
If you would like to learn more about the services provided or to assess if I am the right fit for your self growth journey, please contact me.
In My Clinical Toolbelt:
Trauma Focused Therapy: Unresolved trauma has a sneaky way of showing up in other parts of your life. While ensuring you feel safe, we work to unravel ways traumatic responses are affecting you.
CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy): Our thoughts, actions and feelings interact with each other constantly. With this approach we examine the unhelpful and sometimes unconscious interaction of these three things.
DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy): I love using DBT skills to help develop safer and healthier responses to distressful moments and emotions.
Mindfulness & Guided Meditations: In a society were we are always on the go mentally and physically, I love using meditations to facilitate intentional awareness and stillness.
Yoga: The combination of mindfulness and movement can help reset and calm mental and physical restlessness.
Art: The beautiful place where words stop and freedom starts. This is less about the attractiveness of the piece or more about the process. I love using art as a way to move through emotions and create ways of coping and trying something new.
Relational-Cultural Therapy: We are social creatures, we thrive off social connections. With that being said, most of our wounds do not happen in isolation and are usually caused by fractures in our relationships with others. Using this approach we work to identify and heal these parts of our identities so we feel safe and empowered to reconnect with others.
Solutions Focused Therapy: We go to the drawing board together; identify things that worked, and things that didn't. Here we plan a course of action and checkpoints to get you where you want to go.
Play: I do not care how old you are, play is an important part of your humanness! Together we honor the playfulness within us and acknowledge that looks different everyday.
EMDR: With EMDR we take the emotional charge away from traumatic experiences that have not been processed fully. We learn to modify the template so the world feels less activating.