Therapist Dr. Thomas Kadela Photo

Dr. Thomas Kadela, LCSW

Stress, Anxiety Trauma, Abuse Sleeping disorders Anger management Depression
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About me

Hi – I’m Dr. Kadela and it’s nice to “meet” you. They wanted me to write a little about myself so here you go! Note – if you have insomnia this might just put you to sleep – so enjoy that perk at no charge!

- Why are you on BetterHelp?

I have over 26 years of assessment and treatment experience. I only work with 1-2 clients at a time on BetterHelp since I work full time with the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) and am also a United States Army National Guard Behavioral Health Officer (neither of which I formally represent here). BetterHelp allows me to work with cool people like you in a more casual setting. Before coming to the DVA I specialized in children and families.

- What would our sessions look like?

Well – that’s really up to you! I may have gone to school for a long time to be called “Dr.” but you’ve spent a long time being you – and you’re the expert of you! So we are both experts, and therefore equals, in this partnership. So YOU get to pick how we spend our time together. Do you want Executive Coaching? Or to use me as more of a sounding board for your thoughts and feelings (sometimes known as Gestalt Therapy)? Do you want to target an issue like Depression, Trauma, Anxiety, Sleep, Communication or Anger? If that’s the case you can choose an Evidenced Based Psychotherapy (EBP). EBPs are well researched and have proven outcomes. They almost always involve homework in-between our sessions. You can see you have a lot of choices and we can talk about what’s right for you, and what you think would be best, but I am formally trained in:

• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
• Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression (CBT-D)
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain (CBT-CP)
• Social Skills Therapy (SST)
• Anger Management (AM)
• Solution Focused Brief Psychotherapy (SFBP)
• Problem Solving (PS)

No matter what we do I take a holistic approach. I believe we need to balance Body, Mind and Spirit (however you define Spirit). When one of them is out of whack (not a technical term) the other two go wonky (again not a technical term). It’s like driving a vehicle with three round tires and one square – it’s very clunky and uncomfortable!

- Resume/Curriculum Vita

OK – here is the boring stuff. I’ve been practicing for over 26 years and during that time I’ve taught/teach at University at both the Graduate and Undergraduate levels. I’ve published in a few journals. I’m Board Certified in my discipline. I’ve worked and/or supervised inpatient, outpatient and residential treatment programs. I’ve been on the conference circuit and given many workshops and keynote speeches. I’ve held job titles such as Chief Clinical Officer of National Programs, State Director, Chief Administrative Officer, Training Director, Supervisor of Specialty Programs, etc. I am a US Army Combat Veteran. Let me know if you want more details as I’m happy to share. I hope I get to meet you!

Professional experience

26yrs in practice
Stress, Anxiety Trauma, Abuse Sleeping disorders Anger management Depression

Additional areas of focus: Addictions, LGBT, Relationship issues, Family conflicts, Grief, Intimacy-related issues, Parenting issues, Self esteem, Career difficulties, Bipolar disorder, Coping with life changes, Coaching, Compassion fatigue, ADHD, Caregiver issues and stress, Chronic pain illness and disability, Commitment Issues, Communication problems, Control issues, Coping with Natural or Human-Caused Disaster, Divorce and separation, Emptiness, Family Problems, Fatherhood Issues, First Responder Issues, Gender Dysphoria, Guilt and shame, Isolation / loneliness, Life purpose, Men's issues, Midlife crisis, Military and Veterans Issues, Money and financial issues, Mood disorders , Panic disorder and panic attacks, Post-traumatic stress, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Sexual Assault and Abuse, Sexuality, Social anxiety and phobia, Workplace issues, Young Adult Issues

Clinical approaches: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Psychodynamic Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Trauma-Focused Therapy

Services offered

Video
Phone
Live Chat
Messaging

License information

IL LCSW 149007447