Therapy is a weird profession in that clients are asked in an initial session to tell a complete stranger intimate details of their lives with the hope that their suffering might be reduced or alleviated. Grant Goehler (he/him) works in a client-centered way to help you understand & cope with present-day stressors and get to the root of the issues/trauma that keep you feeling stuck or disconnected. Grant uses validation, active listening, and mindful awareness to ensure you feel seen, heard, and supported by someone who deeply cares. Trying to manage an issue that seems like no one understands can be a very lonely experience, and sometimes it takes an outside perspective to gain a felt sense of clarity. Grant’s goal is to quickly have you feeling like you aren’t alone as you heal & grow. Grant practices virtual and in-person EMDR therapy, using a strengths-based approach to connect with clients in a warm, conversational manner. Your work might also include or be influenced by attachment theory, DBT, and CBT. Grant offers hourly sessions in a safe and HIPPA-compliant setting where you’ll be free to explore what’s most important to you.

I believe in collaboration, curiosity, and questions.

I believe in authenticity, validation, and boundaries.

I believe in starting over, again and again.

I believe in learning from life experiences.

I believe people need to earn the right to hear your story.

I believe people deserve love, belonging, security, and connection.

I believe profound change is possible because I see it every day and have experienced it firsthand.

I believe in the power of EMDR therapy and the healing it promotes.

Some of my clients are Veterans who struggle with trauma, mood disorders, and transition issues. Some of my clients experienced early childhood abuse and neglect. I have experience working with diverse client bases, including but not limited to BIPOC, Veterans, LGBTQ+ persons, DID and dissociative disorders, addiction, suicidality, depression, and anxiety. I am a combat Veteran and a member of the LGBTQ community who studies and practices Buddhist philosophy. I teach and practice mindfulness and self-compassion, helping my clients develop these skills in a way that works for them.

Grant is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Illinois who graduated from the University of Southern California with his MSW. While in school, he completed an internship at College Hospital in Costa Mesa, California, offering short-term therapy to clients suffering from severe psychiatric disorders.

A Marine Corps veteran, Grant moved to Illinois and began working for the Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Center program, providing individual and group therapy to a diverse population of combat veterans recovering from war’s devastating effects. Grant is also a private practice clinician and co-director of Good Works, along with his partner and husband, Tyler Lewke.

Trauma alters the way we show up in our lives by affecting the way we think, feel, behave and connect with ourselves and others. EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy, is a thoroughly researched and extensively practiced therapeutic modality that allows people to heal from trauma, leaving the “past in the past.” The brain’s adaptive information processing system, guided by a trained clinician, addresses the emotional blocks that keep clients from living rewarding lives.

When someone suffers a physical injury, their body heals itself. If the physical injury is bad enough, one might need to visit a doctor for help. Trauma is essentially a mental injury that the mind often attempts to heal by avoiding the people, places, and things that remind them of the original incident. This unconscious avoidance strategy, while providing the illusion of comfort, also reinforces that danger lurks in the present moment. Clients’ lives can become shells of what they once believed possible for them. EMDR, as shown over and over again, helps clients address what is keeping them stuck, which allows them to reconnect with their authentic selves and motivates them to reclaim their lives.

This group is designed to introduce members to the concept of trauma and to help them recover from traumatic experiences by using a variety of experiential interventions, psychoeducation, and skills-building exercises. You will take something home from this group every week to help with your recovery. The group process is informed by Bessel van der Kolk, a leading expert in the field of trauma recovery, Peter Levine, founder of Somatic Experiencing and Trauma is Really Strange by Steve Haines.