Breanna Smith, LPC

Feminist, Relational, and Trauma Therapist

I've always been interested in how people find meaning, connection, and resilience within their own context and relationships. That curiosity is what my work is built on. I'm known for building genuine connections quickly. You can expect direct honesty delivered with care, not therapy-speak that dances around what actually needs to be said. My work is trauma-informed and identity-affirming, and I believe relationships, empathy, and authenticity are essential for well-being.

Available in English

Quick Nav:

Quick Facts

Designation

Licensed Professional Counselor

Languages

English (fluent)

Location

In-Person at our Chicago office or Telehealth

Ages

Teens 13+

Main Specialties

7+ years in practice

Availability

Accepting new clients

What I Help With

I work with adults and couples navigating religious trauma, LGBTQIA+ identity, relationships and consensual non-monogamy, life transitions, and the stressors that don't always have a name but still take up space.

Maybe you've tried therapy before and it felt clinical, like someone was checking boxes instead of hearing you. Maybe you've never tried it at all because being seen feels more frightening than what you're already carrying. Either way, you don't need to have the words yet. You just need to show up.

My work is trauma-informed, which means I pay attention to how past experiences, systems, and relationships that were supposed to be safe have shaped who you are now. Healing happens when you feel met, not managed.

My 3 Core Specialties

1. Religious Trauma & Spiritual Harm

I work with adults who've been harmed within religious institutions or belief systems. Whether you're deconstructing, leaving a faith community, or recovering from spiritual abuse, your story doesn't get minimized or questioned here.

2. Authenticity & Empowered Growth

We are all moving toward becoming our most authentic selves, if we're given a space that's honest enough to let that happen. So much of what keeps people stuck isn't a lack of insight, it's years of conditioning to perform a version of themselves that feels safer or more acceptable. We will work on closing the gap between who you've had to be and who you actually are, so you can grow from a place of self-trust instead of self-correction.

3. Trauma & Stressors

Working through experiences that felt overwhelming or life-altering, at whatever pace feels right for you. Trauma doesn't have to mean a single catastrophic event to be worth addressing here. We look at the power dynamics, relationships, and systems trauma has happened in. Healing isn't something you do alone. It happens back in connection and with support.

I also help with...

Couples & Non-Monogamy: conflict, communication, trust, and the ongoing work of choosing each other, in any relationship structure
LGBTQIA+ & Identity-Affirming Therapy: navigating identity, relationships, family dynamics, and the exhaustion of existing in spaces that weren't built with you in mind
Life Transitions & Identity: finding your footing when the ground has shifted
Anxiety & Depression: the worry, the heaviness, the numbness
Relationships: the ways we learned to connect, or protect ourselves from connecting
Self & Identity: figuring out who you are outside of what others told you to be

My Approach to Therapy

My work is grounded in feminist theory and relational-cultural therapy, the belief that your struggles didn't happen in a vacuum. They were shaped by the relationships you've been in, the systems you've moved through, and a world that's often asked you to be smaller or quieter than you are. We look at all of it together.

I also draw on attachment theory and psychodynamic thinking to understand where your patterns came from, and present-focused tools to help you build a life that actually feels like yours. Depending on what you need, I'll bring in grounding and mindfulness practices to help you slow down enough to hear yourself again.

I don't hand people a roadmap or rush them toward an answer. More often I'm sitting with someone while they find their own way back to themselves. Clients tend to say they felt understood faster than they expected. If you've felt unseen in therapy before, that matters, and it'll be different here. I'm empathetically direct, so you always know where you stand with me. I won't just nod along if I see something worth naming, and I won't soften the truth to the point that it loses its use.

I have "You do not yield" tattooed on myself, not as a performance of a motto but as something I actually carry. It speaks to what I see in almost everyone who reaches out for support: a quiet, stubborn refusal to give up on themselves, even when it doesn't feel that way from the inside. I don't take lightly the courage it takes to ask for help, and I'll meet you there.

Therapy Approaches I Use

Feminist Therapy: the foundation of my work, looking at how systems, power, and society shape your inner world
Relational-Cultural Therapy: healing happens in connection, so we look at how relational ruptures shaped you and how real relationship can restore you
Person-Centered Therapy: you lead, I follow
Psychodynamic Theory: what lives beneath the surface and how early experiences quietly show up in your present life
Attachment Theory: how early bonds shape the way you love, trust, and relate to yourself and others
Internal Family Systems (IFS): meeting every part of you with curiosity, not judgment
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): identifying and shifting thought patterns that no longer serve you
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): building skills for emotional regulation and distress tolerance
Mindfulness: practices to help you slow down and reconnect with yourself

Ready to Get Started?

Taking the first step takes immense courage, but you don't have to walk it alone. Whether you are ready to unpack your story or just want a safe space to slow down, I’m here to sit alongside you. Schedule a consultation today, and let’s navigate the path toward your healing, together.