Sonia Khaleel

Sonia Khaleel, LLMSW, MBA, brings a thoughtful and affirming approach to therapy, grounded in the belief that meaningful healing begins with being genuinely seen, heard, and understood. She earned a Master of Social Work and an MBA from Loyola University Chicago, and she is committed to listening deeply to each person's story with compassion and respect. She works with people navigating anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma, identity questions, relationship strain, and major transitions. Sonia understands that culture can profoundly shape emotional well-being, and she brings particular care to bicultural identity and what gets carried across generations of immigrant families. Sonia works from an integrative approach, where she considers your behaviors, your thoughts, your past and present relationships, and the way your nervous system responds to stress. She pairs psychodynamic and attachment-based depth with DBT and CBT skills as well as somatic, polyvagal-informed practice, which helps to address the core issues behind the presenting concerns. By integrating insight-oriented work with practical coping strategies and nervous system regulation, Sonia helps clients better understand themselves and foster greater emotional flexibility. Her clinical experience includes providing individual psychotherapy and facilitating support groups for LGBTQ+ adults at Chicago’s Center on Halsted. Sonia has also provided play therapy for refugee children, facilitated parenting groups, and offered case management services to pregnant individuals at World Relief Chicago. She has experience supporting autistic adults as well as transgender and gender-diverse individuals. She also sees couples using the Gottman method alongside an attachment-based approach. Sonia views therapy as a partnership built on trust and the belief that meaningful growth is possible when people feel accepted for who they are.