About Cornerstone

Cornerstone Counseling Center of Chicago (CCCOC) provides exceptional counseling and personal development services to individuals of all ages, couples, and families. CCCOC is a non-profit counseling center located in the diverse Near North neighborhood of Chicago; it was founded in 1971 as a ministry of the LaSalle Street Church and has grown into an independent, full service mental health center. All staff are committed to CCCOC’s mission, vision, and core tenets.

Mission

Cornerstone empowers people to reach their spiritual, relational and emotional potential through exceptional counseling and personal development services.

Vision

For all people to access tools to reach their maximum potential, because holistic well-being is the cornerstone of a thriving community

Tenets

• Practicing social justice through serving diverse and underprivileged communities
• Cultural competence and cultural humility
• The integration of faith and practice

Location

CCCOC is located just north of the Loop (Chicago’s downtown and business district), and sits between the historically Gold Coast area to the east and a lower to middle-class SES region to the west. There are currently two satellite offices: Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, IL, a western suburb, and First Evangelical Free Church on the north side of the city. All offices are accessible by public transportation and major highways.

Services

CCCOC provides comprehensive mental health services that include individual, couples, and family counseling; psycho-education groups and seminars; and psychological assessment services for populations of all ages administered by doctoral level clinicians. To fulfill our social justice tenant of making mental health services accessible to all populations and communities, our Client Access Program (CAP), ensures that cost does not prohibit potential clients from obtaining and maintaining quality psychological services.

A truly distinctive aspect of CCCOC’s mental health services is its commitment of going into the community to deliver services. This commitment has led to partnerships among various school and afterschool programs. CCCOC also leads professional development workshops and workshops addressing parenting education in a variety of settings, including schools, churches, and other community-focused organizations. CCCOC actively works to develop partnerships with a broad array of organizations in surrounding neighborhoods to make quality mental health services accessible and to enhance the quality of services available utilizing creative, relevant, and culturally sensitive strategies. CCCOC seeks to enhance accessibility of services in offering appointments on weekdays from early morning to late evening in addition to daytime appointments on Saturdays.

In addition to the school and after-school based services, CCCOC has developed a unique partnership model of working with local churches and pastors. Through church partnerships, we offer an array of services including on-site therapy, congregational seminars and workshops, consultation, ministry readiness and preparation assessments, and mental health awareness events. The specific partnership is tailored to the interests and needs of each congregation while working to reduce the stigma of mental health issues within the body of Christ.

Clinical Assignments/Caseload

An internship at CCCOC is rigorous and fast-paced, requiring the ability to work independently, problem solve, and maintain excellence in service provision. CCCOC interns are treated like team members and while expectations are high, students are fully supported by our clinical and administrative staff. CCCOC is committed to developing the whole therapist, and to making a significant investment in interns through direct supervision, engaging didactic experiences, and professional development opportunities. The internship requires schedules with evening and weekend hours and a vehicle to enable transportation to partner locations in the community.

Interns who are completing their primary rotation at CCCOC will carry an outpatient caseload of 15-20 hours of direct client contact. Interns will have the opportunity to work with children, adolescents and adults in individual, couple and family modalities. Interns may also participate in leading groups. Psychological testing and report writing opportunities are also offered. Interns should expect to complete a minimum of 4 full psychological batteries during this rotation. Interns will also gain experience in trauma informed care, integration of faith and psychology and treating sexual compulsion. Interns will also have opportunities to work in school and after-school settings with high-risk students providing group and individual therapy with the goal of enhancing academic success. Interns will be required to have completed basic levels of training with Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT). Caseloads will consist of a combination of services offered in community settings and more traditional psychotherapy experience in our central location. Interns carrying a therapy caseload in the office may be scheduled to work on Saturdays.

In addition to direct client work, interns will write psycho-educational articles for CCCOC’s newsletter and blog, and are encouraged to submit work to conferences or related publications. There will also be research opportunities including participation in data collection, analysis of clinical outcomes, preparation of proposals and participation in presentations. Opportunities to work with the administrative team on client intake, program development, marketing, and grant writing are also available.

Contact Cornerstone Counseling Center of Chicago