Penny McGrath, MA, LCPC
Penny is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in the State of Illinois. She has been in practice for over 25 years. She has extensive experience working with anxiety combining a relational, mindfulness-based perspective. Penny educates clients with neuroscientific facts about how the brain works, which helps improve both understanding of symptoms as well as compliance with coping skills taught and therapy outcomes. Penny also borrows from well-researched, evidence- based modalities such as CBT, ACT, and DBT.
Penny has worked in a variety of mental health settings including partial hospitalization, inpatient, in home and outpatient agencies. She has over 10 years experience supervising graduate students and Licensed Professional Counselors as well as seeing other mental health professionals as clients. She has expertise with working with clients across the lifespan. She sees clients who struggle with anxiety, OCD, ADHD, social anxiety, grief and loss, and depression. She works with young adults in navigating the transition from high school to college or college to the workplace. Penny also works with adults experiencing life transitions including divorce, illness, grief and loss, parenting challenges, and the social emotional effects of hypersomnia and narcolepsy (CBT-H).
Penny has a warm and engaging style of getting to know her clients and joining them where they are with empathy and understanding. Though change within our lives is constant, most of us struggle with tolerating the uncertainty that comes along with it. We get caught up in the “what ifs” rather than staying present in the “what is” or “even if”, which can shift perspectives from hopelessness to a more realistic view of the future. People often seek therapy when they realize that their current coping skills are no longer ineffective for their present situation and no longer serve them. Penny works with clients to create awareness of when thought misperceptions arise, explore how past experiences have shaped how they show up in the world, and identify ways to improve functioning and overall life satisfaction.
