Meet MBC’s 2022/2023 Interns
We’d like to give a warm welcome to our 2022/2023 intern cohort! Learn more about each of their approaches below, and if you’d like to schedule with one of them, reach out to info@mindbodycoopchicago.com.
Jyotsna (Joy) Dhar (she/her), CYT-200, Psychotherapy Intern
Can you tell us about your education and about the program you’re in?
I’m a second-year Clinical Mental Health Counseling student at The Family Institute at Northwestern University. I am on the adult track and am a member of the 2+ cohort for career changers. If all goes as planned, I hope to graduate in June 2023!
What is your approach to therapy?
My approach is rooted in multicultural feminist therapy, as I believe it is critical to take into account intersectionality, historical context, and interactions with oppressive systems in order to effectively walk alongside a client. Radical compassion, humor, and a deep belief in the interconnectedness of all beings influence my therapeutic practice, as do my experiences as a 1.5-generation Desi immigrant, a community organizer, and an advocate for the liberation of all bodies and minds.
Which modalities do you use?
I also pull from existential therapy, person-centered therapy, and decolonized practices of mindfulness.
What is your view on healing and growth when it comes to mental health?
I believe in the power of and am committed to learning, unlearning, and understanding narratives for individual and collective empowerment. Therapy — especially one focused on integrating mind, body, and spirit — can be an incredible tool for healing, collective liberation, and social justice.
MacKenzie Rotherham (she/her), Psychotherapy Intern
Can you tell us about your education and about the program you’re in?
I am a current graduate student in the Community Counseling program at Loyola University of Chicago, and my graduate date is May 2023.
What is your approach to therapy?
My approach looks different with each client, as I honor the individual’s therapeutic needs. I lean towards Behavioral Therapy through an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) approach, which can be eclectic and humanistic in nature. I enjoy this approach, because it empowers the individual to move from the headspace and into a more mindful life space.
Which modalities do you use?
A few therapeutic techniques that I generally gravitate towards include mindfulness, values clarification, self-authorship, empathetic understanding, and psychological flexibility. I hope to incorporate some of these techniques in the modalities of individual and group therapy.
What is your view on healing and growth when it comes to mental health?
I believe that healing and growth may shapeshift throughout the seasons of a lifetime. Courage and empathy can be grounding forces within the transformative experience of a person’s healing and growth, and the process can be both an art form and collective in nature. I think each person has the inner wisdom to come back home to their wholeness, and I believe that healing and growth in mental health is rooted in love, radical compassion, and connection.
Sarwar Khan (he/him), BSN, PNP Intern
Can you tell us about your education and about the program you’re in?
I am in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. My graduation date is May 2023.
What is your philosophy of care?
My philosophy of care is to create a supportive environment where clients are encouraged to share their thoughts and feel genuinely heard. My approach to therapy is to collaborate with clients to identify how their strengths can lead to mental wellness.
Which modalities do you use?
The modalities I use are solution-focused therapy and medication management.
What is your view on healing and growth when it comes to mental health?
My view on healing and growth is that it takes time. Clients often experience distress from years of trauma, difficult relationships, socioeconomic stress, and other difficult situations. Just as the stress builds up over time the healing process also takes time. It takes time to develop effective coping skills, understand the impact of childhood experiences, identify unhelpful behaviors, challenge negative thoughts, and find effective medication options. It also takes time to identify the innate strengths unique to every individual that allow for both healing and growth. My view is that every individual is in a different position in the mental health journeys we all experience throughout our lives.
Wesley White (he/him), Psychotherapy Intern
Can you tell us about your education and about the program you’re in?
I am in the Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Adler University. I graduate in June of 2023.
What is your approach to therapy?
I believe that everyone has a right to a happy, fulfilling, life free of issues that hold them back. In my therapy work I hope to get my clients to a place of flexibility, where they no longer feel overwhelmed but can safely and confidently navigate the challenges that life throws at them.
Which modalities do you use?
I hope to take an integrative approach, but lean toward existentialist, attachment-based, and acceptance and commitment (ACT) or mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral (CBT) modalities.
What is your view on healing and growth when it comes to mental health?
I believe that healing and growth are intrinsically tied. Everyone struggles and needs some kind of healing, and it’s through that healing that we create a path toward growth. I believe strongly that transformation begins with developing awareness, and then consciously acting on that awareness to take steps toward change. I know firsthand that therapy can help in this process, and I hope to help others heal and grow no matter where they are struggling now.
Mind Body Co-op is Chicago’s only space for individuals to discover, explore, and heal what is occurring internally at the cognitive, emotional, and physical levels. This unique, holistic approach to treatment and wellness is born out of the belief that examining the cognitive, emotional, and physical pieces and how they intersect helps lead to uncovering your full potential by providing thoughtful, collaborative, and complete integrative mental health care. We offer a variety of clinical services, including individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, psychological/neuropsychological assessments, medication management, DBT, adventure therapy, therapeutic yoga, and more. We provide culturally-competent services in English, Spanish, French, Polish, and Arabic. Learn more.
