About Mindful Psychology Associates

We help people grow.

Dr. Jennifer Contarino Panning established her Evanston psychology practice in 2004 after completing her postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University Counseling and Psychological Services Center. In 2014, she added her first associate, and in 2015 formed Mindful Psychology Associates PC to provide more comprehensive psychological services helping more people in the Evanston, Northwestern University, and North Shore communities.

Our practice name refers to our interest or specific training in working from a mindfulness perspective with clients, both through specific mindfulness strategies, as well as through treatment models such as ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and RO-DBT (Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy) which have a strong mindfulness component. We also pride ourselves on being ethical, thoughtful, and mindful clinicians! We believe that our primary clinical ‘tool’ is our own presence—so being humans who have rich lives and focus on being centered also benefits our clinical work with clients.

Our mission is as competent, compassionate, expert clinicians we provide high-quality psychological services. In doing so, we help our clients feel validated and valued while experiencing growth and healing, thus empowering them to lead healthier lives with more ease and consistent with their values. We are a practice where people feel respected, valued, and safe, inclusive of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, socioeconomic status, religion, and the intersections of identities which make us all unique. See our Diversity and Inclusion statement.

Fit Between Client and Therapist

We know from our combined many years of clinical experience that the ‘fit’ between client and therapist is very important for making progress in therapy. “Fit” can be hard to describe, but considers several factors: the client’s presenting concerns and therapist’s expertise in working with these issues, therapist age or gender preferences stated by the client, and personality fit. We know this is a tricky combination and our admin team is well-trained in helping with this match. However, sometimes that fit doesn’t work out for whatever reason and this becomes evident in the first few sessions. If this happens, we encourage the client to talk to their therapist or our admin team and request being reassigned to a different therapist. When this happens, we don’t take it personally! We genuinely would like clients to feel empowered in this process and would rather have someone ask for a different therapist rather than just quit therapy altogether.

Payment Flexibility

We accept some insurance plans (see the Insurance specifics), provide receipts for clients with PPO insurance who would like to be reimbursed for therapy, and accept self-paying clients. However, if your insurance does not cover psychotherapy, we may be able to slide our fee (in some cases as low as $50 per session). See Low Fee Psychotherapy for more information.

If you or a family member is struggling with challenging financial circumstances — perhaps due to job loss or cuts during the pandemic, as a person of color negatively impacted by systemic racism, or by other hardships or discrimination — Mindful Psychology Associates has options to help you get the help you need.

In accordance with our mission at Mindful Psychology Associates to make therapy affordable and accessible, our sliding scale for mental health services is determined by looking at your annual household income and life circumstances.

Location

During COVID-19, we are working from our home offices and all sessions are conducted through encrypted Zoom video calls or telephone sessions. We anticipate that telehealth will continue through the end of the year and we will look forward to resuming in-person sessions when it is safe to do so.

Our Evanston therapy office is conveniently located for Chicago and North Shore clients in the Carlson Building across the street from the Evanston Library, just a short walking distance from the Northwestern University campus. We are located a few blocks from the Davis Street purple line/Metra stop, and metered parking is available nearby.

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