SpringSource Psychological Center

12/17/2025

The Hidden Side of Wellbeing
We often focus on the visible changes: the number on the scale, the medication that helps, the improved health markers.
But behind every story in medical weight management is a deeper journey: shifts in identity, challenges with body image, and emotional recalibration.
As new programs emerge, we have an opportunity to define well-being not by pounds lost but by resilience, balance, and self-connection gained.
At SpringSource, that’s the conversation we’re leading.
Schedule a Consultation: https://springsourcecenter.com/contact-us/

12/16/2025

SpringSource December Highlights: It’s been a full month of conversations, connection, and care, and we’re grateful to share a few highlights with you.

SpringSource Psychological Center. Highlights for December and a Holiday Message.

12/16/2025

A Statewide Conversation: The Invisible Load and Women in Leadership
This month, SpringSource was honored to present “The Invisible Load: Emotional Labor, Gender Roles, and the Mental Health Toll on Women” to a statewide group of female school superintendents here in Illinois.
The conversation explored:
• The emotional labor women carry at home and at work
• How identity shifts accumulate in midlife
• The invisible weight of expectations on women in leadership
• The psychological cost of doing so much for so many
The dialogue was rich, honest, and deeply resonant. We are grateful to have been invited into that space. We are also honored to share that the organization has asked SpringSource to present in person at their annual conference in June 2026, a meaningful affirmation of the work we are doing to elevate women’s emotional health and leadership.
If your organization could benefit from this kind of conversation, we’d love to connect. These dialogues open space for reflection, understanding, and real change. Reach out through our contact form, and we’d be happy to explore how we can collaborate: https://springsourcecenter.com/contact-us/
You can also catch more SpringSource highlights and updates in our current newsletter: The Source: December Highlights at SpringSource - https://mailchi.mp/3c60056c4e9f/the-source-december-highlights-holiday-message

12/15/2025

SpringSource Psychological Center is pleased to welcome Dr. Gali Kramer, PsyD to our team!⁠ ⁠⁠
Dr. Kramer is a postdoctoral fellow at SpringSource. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and completed her clinical internship at The Lorenz Clinic of Family Psychology in Minneapolis, MN. She provides individual and couples therapy for children, adolescents, and adults, helping clients navigate relational challenges, life transitions, anxiety, and mood disorders. She has a special interest and experience working with folks with eating disorders and is passionate about empowering clients to take an active role in their treatment.
As an East Coast native, Dr. Kramer values the ways socio-political context, culture, and systemic factors shape our inner lives and relationships. She understands that mental health is deeply intertwined with the environments and communities we inhabit and that well-being reflects both personal and social influences.
Dr. Kramer practices from a psychodynamic framework, believing that insight, reflection, and meaningful connection drive lasting change. Clients experience her as authentic, collaborative, and compassionate. She partners with clients to build resilience, strengthen relationships, and address patterns that limit their ability to create and sustain the lives they deserve.
Dr. Kramer has immediate availability for new clients. Please call 224-202-6260 x 1 to schedule an appointment.⁠
⁠.⁠
Welcome, Dr. Kramer!⁠⁠

12/14/2025

A Thoughtful Afternoon with Author Betsy Brenner
We were grateful to welcome Betsy Brenner, author of The Longest Match: Rallying to Defeat an Eating Disorder, for an intimate visit with our SpringSource team.
Betsy’s reflections on recovery, resilience, and the power of compassionate relationships deeply resonated with our clinicians. Her perspective highlighted the importance of integrative, whole-person care and affirmed the work we are doing to support individuals who are rebuilding trust in their bodies and relationships.
Our team looks forward to continued connection with her as we explore aligned work in the months ahead.

12/10/2025

The SpringSource team is thrilled to welcome Betsy Brenner, author of "The Longest Match: Rallying to Defeat an Eating Disorder in Midlife," to our Northbrook office today!
Betsy will share her powerful story of navigating grief, trauma, and a midlife eating disorder diagnosis, offering an inspiring reminder that it’s never too late to be a work in progress.
Her book is available on Amazon and may also be at your local library.
Betsy’s message of healing, resilience, and self-compassion in midlife beautifully reflects the mission of our Intensive Outpatient Program. We’re so glad to have this opportunity to learn, connect, and grow together as a team.

12/10/2025

🌿 Hope over Happiness: A Deeper Path Through Hard Times
During challenging periods, the pursuit of happiness often feels elusive. Hope, however, supported by self-compassion, resilience, and mindful presence, can provide a more reliable foundation for meaningful growth.
At SpringSource, we explore how:
• Hope sustains us when happiness fades.
• Self-compassion bridges the gap between where we are and where we’re going.
• Meaning emerges not just in peaks of joy, but in the steady flame of hope and connection.
📖 Read the full article: https://springsourcecenter.com/hope-vs-happiness-hope-and-self-compassion-for-hard-times/
👉 Ideal for therapists, wellness advocates, anyone guiding or walking alongside others, or simply yourself.

12/08/2025

Is AI Biased Against Older Working Women?
A new Stanford study says yes, and we’re not surprised. Read more in our recent article: https://springsourcecenter.com/ai-age-gender-bias-older-working-women-emotional-labor/
SpringSource leaders will bring this issue and more into the spotlight during their upcoming presentation: “The Invisible Load: Emotional Labor, Gender Roles, and the Mental Health Toll on Women.”
🗓️ December 10, 2025
Presenters:
• Dr. Susan McClanahan, Ph.D., Co-founder, SpringSource Psychological Center
• Dr. Angela Derrick, Ph.D., Co-founder, SpringSource Psychological Center
• Jamie Kelly, LCPC, CEDS-C
• Katherine “Kat” M. Zwick, LCPC, CGP-S, CCCS
This talk for female superintendents will explore:
✨ What emotional labor is and why it’s undervalued
✨ How gender roles reinforce invisible expectations
✨ The mental health toll: burnout, anxiety, and isolation
✨ How to redistribute emotional labor at home and work
✨ How leadership norms must evolve
✨ How systems, not women, must change
The Stanford findings echo what this conversation makes clear: If emotional labor has been invisible and internal, AI bias has been invisible and external. Together, they show us exactly where women are getting squeezed.
For more information about the December 10th presentation, please fill out our contact form. https://springsourcecenter.com/contact-us/

12/04/2025

SpringSource Psychological Center is pleased to welcome Katherine “Kat” M. Zwick, LCPC, CGP-S, CCCS (she/they) – Director of Outpatient & Specialty Services to our team!⁠ ⁠
.⁠
Kat is a licensed clinical professional counselor with a master’s degree in clinical psychology from The Illinois School of Professional Psychology-Argosy University. She specializes in eating disorders, substance use, complex trauma, relational challenges, and recovery from coercive control. She is deeply trained in DBT, which she adapts through trauma-informed and multicultural frameworks, and she integrates psychodynamic, motivational interviewing, IFS, ACT, ERP, and feminist approaches in her clinical practice. Kat values flexibility, utilizing research and training in meeting clients’ treatment needs and developing programming and training.
Since 2013, Kat has provided clinical and operational leadership in outpatient, IOP, and PHP settings, emphasizing inclusivity, staff development, and evidence-based program growth. They are a Board Certified Group Psychotherapist & Qualified Supervisor, Certified Coercive Control Specialist, and they currently serve as Director of the Core Principles Course for the American Group Psychotherapy Association.
Clients and colleagues describe Kat as warm, responsive, and direct. She especially enjoys mentoring clinicians and leaders, building programs, fostering collaborative teams, and solving complex problems. For over a decade, she has proudly served and advocated for girls and women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and neurodivergent populations, bringing compassion and humor to her work alongside a commitment to clinical excellence.
Kat has immediate availability for new clients. Please call 224-202-6260 x 1 to schedule an appointment.⁠
⁠.⁠
Welcome, Kat!⁠
.⁠

12/03/2025

The World Health Organization has released a new guideline on GLP-1 therapies, and one of the most important points is the recommendation to include Intensive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) as part of care.
IBT is not a single technique. It is a comprehensive behavioral approach that involves regular appointments, self monitoring, problem solving, skill building, and planning for long-term change. It helps people understand emotional triggers, build new routines, and navigate the shifts that occur when appetite and physical patterns change rapidly.
In our clinical work at SpringSource Psychological Center, We see how essential this support is. People benefit from a structured and compassionate space to understand what is changing inside them.
Biology and behavior are linked.
Medication and therapy work best together.
Effective care supports both.
This WHO recommendation aligns closely with the needs we see in real patients every day.