CST Counseling & Consultation PLLC

04/13/2026

Family dynamics aren't always easy, but healing, growth, and connection can happen together.

At CST Counseling & Consultation, we offer family therapy to help strengthen relationships, improve communication, and create a deeper sense of understanding within your home and family system.

✨ Benefits of family therapy:
• Healthier communication patterns
• Conflict resolution skills
• Stronger emotional bonds
• Support through life transitions
• A safe space for every voice to be heard

Whether you’re navigating challenges or simply want to feel more connected, family therapy can help you move forward together.

You don’t have to figure it out alone. Give our office a call at 847-232-6137

04/02/2026

Medication management isn’t one-size-fits-all, and it doesn’t look the same for everyone.

For some people, being on medication long-term (even lifelong) is what keeps them stable, functional, and feeling like themselves. And that’s valid and sometimes needed.

For others, medication can be more temporary, a support during a specific season of life.

Both can be true.

What’s also normal (and often not talked about enough):
• Doses going up and down
• Trying different medications to find the right fit
• Adjusting based on life changes, stress, or symptoms
• Needing meds again after a period without them

It’s how thoughtful, responsive care works.

Mental health treatment should evolve with you. The goal isn’t to fit into a rigid plan, it’s to find what actually helps you feel well.

03/27/2026

At CST Counseling & Consultation, we believe care should feel seamless, supportive, and truly personalized 🤍

That’s why we’re proud to offer both therapy and medication management in one place. For those who may benefit from medication, our team takes a collaborative, integrated approach, so your providers are working together to support you in the most thoughtful and effective way.

Having therapy and medication services under one roof not only strengthens communication between your providers, but also makes your experience more convenient, consistent, and connected.

We also offer telehealth appointments for medication follow-ups, making it easier to stay on track with your care, without disrupting your day-to-day life.

Whether you’re looking for therapy alone or a combination of therapy and medication, we’re here to make the process feel easier, more comfortable, and truly tailored to you.

Please give our office a call to schedule an appointment at 847-232-6137.

03/18/2026

Social media didn’t just popularize “boundaries," it distorted them.

What’s often framed as “protecting your peace” is actually avoidance, reactivity, or a lack of communication. Cutting people off, shutting down, or making unilateral decisions without dialogue isn’t boundary-setting, it’s disconnection and emotional immaturity.

Real boundaries require clarity, consistency, and conversation. They’re about expressing needs and limits in a way that allows for understanding, not control.

When “therapy speak” gets simplified into buzzwords, it doesn’t just lose meaning, it can quietly damage relationships.

Have you reassessed how you implement boundaries?

03/16/2026

🌟 Team Spotlight: Jordan Rieke, MSN, PMHNP-BC 🌟

At CST Counseling & Consultation, our team is the heart of everything we do, and today we’re proud to highlight Jordan Rieke, our Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner!

Since joining CST Counseling, Jordan has become an integral part of our practice. By offering thoughtful and personalized medication management, she has helped expand the level of care we provide and made it possible for many of our clients to benefit from more comprehensive, well-rounded treatment plans.

Jordan brings deep clinical knowledge along with a warm, compassionate approach that helps clients feel supported and understood. She collaborates closely with our therapists to ensure care is coordinated and tailored to each individual’s needs.

💙 Thank you, Jordan, for the difference you make at CST Counseling and in the lives of the people we serve.

03/08/2026

Today, on International Women’s Day, all of us at CST Counseling & Consultation are celebrating the incredible strength, resilience, and power of women everywhere. 🌷

Every day in our work, we have the privilege of witnessing women show up with courage, navigating challenges, healing from pain, advocating for themselves, supporting their families, building careers, and continuing to grow through life’s many seasons.

Women carry so much strength within them. Strength to keep going when things feel heavy. Strength to speak their truth. Strength to care deeply for others while learning to care for themselves, too.

We see firsthand how powerful women are when they allow themselves space to be heard, supported, and understood. Watching that resilience unfold is one of the greatest honors of the work we do.

Today we celebrate women’s voices, women’s growth, women’s leadership, and women’s ability to rise again and again.

From all of us at CST Counseling & Consultation, all the way down to our paws 🐾, we are grateful to stand beside the women in our community, and women everywhere.

Happy International Women’s Day. 💜

03/06/2026

We are absolutely elated to be rated the top mental health clinic in Hoffman Estates, IL for 2026!

CST Counseling & Consultation was founded on the principle of providing high quality, empirically validated, inclusive, and comprehensive mental health treatment to our community our surrounding communities. Your continued trust in our practice is an honor and one that we will continue to uphold. ✨

03/05/2026

The following tips can help individuals manage the transition into spring:

Take vitamin D regularly in the winter months to make the spring transition easier.

Use blackout curtains to prevent early-morning waking.

Eliminate nighttime screen usage and blue lights.

Supplement with melatonin at night to help ease insomnia or restless sleep.

Talk to your doctor about any current medications and whether dosage changes could be helpful.

Schedule consistent therapy appointments to manage moods.

Get psychoeducation to understand your condition and why changes may happen.

03/02/2026

What many people don’t know about eating disorders:

Eating disorders are not about vanity.
They are brain-based survival strategies.

When someone restricts, binges, or purges, their nervous system is often trying to regulate overwhelming emotions.

• Starvation can create a temporary sense of control and even emotional numbness.
• Bingeing can activate dopamine and temporarily soothe distress.
• Purging can reduce anxiety in the short term, reinforcing the cycle neurologically.

Over time, the brain becomes wired to repeat the behavior, even when the person desperately wants to stop.

This isn’t a lack of willpower.
It’s a conditioned coping system.

Recovery isn’t about “just eating.”
It’s about healing the nervous system, beliefs about worth, and the underlying pain.

If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, please give our office a call at 847-232-6137 or find a disordered eating specialist near you.

02/23/2026

Most people think successful relationships avoid conflict.

They don’t.

Successful couples just know how to stop a fight before it becomes damaging. We call these repair attempts.

In the Gottman method, we teach couples how to notice, send, and receive repair attempts so conflict stops becoming emotional injury.

You don’t need fewer disagreements.
You need better recovery.

02/12/2026

Most arguments don’t end badly because of what you said, but HOW you started.

Research from demonstrated that you can predict relationship outcomes from the first 3 minutes of a conflict conversation.

So, start soft.

02/06/2026