Abby bottorff, Ma, LCPC, LMHC, NCC

(they/them)

Languages: English

* Welcome *

So many of us living in this uncertain world are forced to accept systems, expectations, and values that aren’t supportive of our authentic selves or our communities. If this sounds like something you’re grappling with, you might also be feeling anxious, misunderstood, depressed, or confused. You should not have to make yourself smaller to fit in this world. I want to help you take up space, understand the parts of you that you might not fully know yet, and find new ways to honor your autonomy.

* My Focus *

I am a white non-binary, queer therapist who works to decolonize therapy through consistent education from folx with lived experience to show up with intention for members of the BIPOC+ community, folx of different ability-types, and folx who face marginalization.. Our work together will be tailored to the parts of you that you’d like to better understand and support. This may include deep exploration of sexuality, gender, spirituality, culture, and the many different experiences that create the “parts” of who we are. My space is anti-capitalist and fueled by radical self-acceptance. Embracing, harnessing, and empowering our individual identities, traumas, and personal narratives to serve you in your growth journey will be at the core of our work together.

You are the expert of you. Your experience is your own. My goal is to empower, support, and affirm you along your journey of self-exploration and authenticity.


* My Approach *

My approach to counseling is guided by self-empowerment and embracing both the person you are and the ways you’d like to foster healthy growth within your life by incorporating an integrative anti-oppressive approach. My clinical foundation utilizes Internal Family System strategies called “parts work,” and aims to explore the dynamics of each person’s identity and collaboratively create empowerment plans for these parts. I also use somatic work to help connect to your nervous system and provide DBT-based interventions to tangibly create safety within our bodies.


* My Philosophy on Therapy *

Therapy has often been rooted in a Western perspective of becoming “more functional” in the eyes of society. This, of course, can be a result of great counseling. I like to believe, however, that therapy can be so much more. It can look like fostering an energetic, curious relationship with parts of yourself, with the way you fit into the world, the way you engage with your relationships, and the way you choose to express your story. Queer folx deserve to take up spaces in mental health that aren’t rooted in harmful stereotypes and heteronormativity. There’s so much healing to be found in changing our goals of counseling from “being more functional” to “being more myself”.


* Credentials & EXPERIENCE *

  • LCPC in Illinois

  • LMHC in Iowa

  • National Counselor Certification (NCC)

  • MA in Counseling, Loras College

Before my relocation to the Chicagoland area, I ran a queer private practice in Iowa. My work in Iowa has centered around empowering our trans community and regularly engaging in grassroots advocacy to host protests against harmful laws, make accessible spaces for trans folx to explore their gender through affirming makeup and clothing workshops, and teach local organizations how to integrate LGBTQ+ affirming language into their spaces. I am so excited to align myself with PA where my passion for this work can continue with the support of like-minded queer folx.


* MORE ABOUT ME *

I am a lover of video games, nerdy fiction, and animals. I am a big fan of punk rock and folk, with an affinity for Queercore genres. When I’m not working, you’ll find me hanging out with my wonderful partner, two rescue huskies and four cats. I am in love with the drag scene and engage as often as I can with local art as it feeds my soul.