My first intention in therapy is to “listen with the ear of my heart.” I have companioned pre-teens, teens, and adults of all ages through life’s ordinary and traumatic challenges for over 30 years. I am a culturally sensitive and affirming therapist, who has a deep respect for, and a fierce commitment to, my clients’ self-determination and well-being. My intention is to approach therapy with authenticity, humility, and with an open and steady heart. I am known to hang in there when things get tough, and I enjoy a healthy dose of playfulness and humor in every relationship.
I specialize in the care of complex trauma, traumatic grief and loss, self-harm, eating disorders, and adoption. As a member of the LGBTQ community, I am especially privileged to work with individuals who identify within the LGBTQIA spectrum. I am committed to advancing social justice, human rights, and anti-oppression within social structures, institutions, communities, and relationships.
I provide professional consultation for therapists and school social workers, and I am currently offering a consultation group for therapists in their first five years of practice. I was an adjunct faculty member for the Trauma Consultation Program at Womencare Counseling and Training Center for 10 years.
Beth’s areas of specialty:
- Childhood trauma and traumatic loss
- Dissociation
- Self-harm
- LGBTQIA+ spectrum specific traumas and struggles
- Grief and Complex Grief
- Eating Disorders
- Adoption
- Anxiety and depression
Beth can be reached at 847-475-7003 x 240 or bholzhauer@womencarecounseling.com
Beth facilitates the group:
Emerging Therapist Consultation Group
Beth is available to train, present or consult on:
- Recognizing, contextualizing, and compassionately addressing the protective and survival strategies associated with Complex Trauma
- How to understand and address self-harm (self-injury, eating disorders, addiction) in the context of trauma, affect regulation, and psyche-soma integration
- The effects of Complex Trauma on learning, behavior and relationships in children, teens and emerging adults
- Attachment traumas and the therapeutic relationship
- Vicarious trauma and care for the therapist
- The special gifts, needs and struggles of adopted children and teens
Beth accepts: Northwestern Student Insurance (Aetna)
Education and Credentials
Bachelor of Science in Zoology, 1984, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Master of Social Work, 1993, University of Illinois, Chicago
LCSW (Illinois Licensed Clinical Social Worker)
Illinois Educator License in Social Work and Secondary Education
Professional Affiliations
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS)
International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISST-D)
Illinois Association of School Social Workers (IASSW)