Compass Health Center – Chicago

I was referred to compass back in May after being hospitalized. I had hit the lowest point in my life and after seeking mental help in multiple states with various providers, I wasn’t anticipating this would be any… different. My assumptions were wrong and after 3 months, I left feeling better than I have ever felt in over 7-8 years. There is no shortage of compassionate and helpful people and resources at compass. It truly feels like everyone there is focused solely on you. A typical day looks entails 3 group sessions where you learn skills and others where you have group discussions. This can feel nerve wracking in the beginning, but mostly it gives a sense of common humanity. I had the pleasure of seeing Nathalie, Maggie, Caroline, Jaycee (I’m sorry if I missed your name) as group therapists during my time there. All of them work to keep our sessions productive and positive, and they do. Also, during the week you will get pulled from group sessions to receive even more support that include 1-1 therapy, psychiatry and outside resource help. Dr. Henry was my psychiatrist who is very concise and pleasure to be around. He takes the time to connect with your doctors and is incredibly detail oriented. Maija, worked on transitioning me to help find outside therapy (after I left), job resources and psychiatry; she is wonderful. Brian, my family therapist worked endlessly to build a better communication channel between myself and my family. He is extremely talented at what he does and I admire the work he puts in to what I know is a difficult job. Lastly, Camilla my primary therapist was the most helpful and supportive therapist I have ever had in my (I’ve seen A LOT). I don’t have enough positive things to say about her. She challenged me to take steps that no other therapist prior had been successful at. She is kind, caring and I will truly miss her support. If you’re on the fence about joining the compass I hope my review might persuade you to give it a shot. I tell my doctors, friends and family just how much the people and program meant to me and I mean it. P.S. - Shoutout to everyone working at the front desk. Only after a couple weeks they greeted by first name and were so kind and helpful.

I can’t put into words the impact compass had on me. I been debating going into the OCD program for nearly 6 months before I did and I can’t express enough the lasting impact it had on me. While I can’t speak to the… other programs at Compass I can however speak extremely highly of the OCD/Complex Anxiety team. Dr. Han was the most amazing psychiatrist I have ever had, he met me where I was and made me feel like a human first. You spend the majority of your time there in group with the group therapists who truly are the heart and soul of compass. Wanted to specifically shoutout Emmy who clearly has a passion for what she does, and let me tell you she is in the right career path (lol). I am leaving compass obviously not cured but having a much better grip and understanding of my mental health, I am also leaving with a plethora of skills that I have already found extremely effective. Obviously this program is not cheap depending on insurance but I have found it worth every penny!!

Would 100% recommend coming to Compass if you are experiencing mental health struggles but don’t feel like going to an inpatient program or hospital would be helpful or necessary. You can even go just in for an intake… and trust that the intake therapist will be very knowledgable and be able to decide what would be right for. I was first admitted to the young adult program, but then moved to the OCD program after only one week as the therapists were very attentive and realised I did not get the right diagnosis. All other therapists I saw before going to compass were not able to give me that diagnosis. Progress is not linear, as I learned at Compass, so not every week was great, and there were times I questioned if I would even get better and the treatment was working. But I put in the effort with the help and guidance of the amazing treatment team (which covered learning skills, dedicated exposure time, individual therapy, psychiatry, family therapy, resource therapy and art therapy) and I saw significant improvement in my mental health within my two and a half months at compass. I am not healed, but that’s also not the point. Especially for people just starting their mental health journey, Compass gives you a stepping stone for further treatment, and means to start being able to handle your everyday life again. Don’t be scared to reach to to them! Even if you’re unsure what you need or if you even require to be in such a program, they will know how what to do.

THIS DISGUSTING EXCUSE FOR A MENTAL HEALTH CENTER IS ACTIVELY PUTTING OTHER PATIENTS IN DANGER BY ALLOWING A SEXUAL HARASSER WHO HAS BEEN ACCUSED MORE THAN ONCE TO CONTINUE WITH TREATMENT DESPITE OTHER PATIENTS MAKING… IT KNOWN HOW UNCOMFORTABLE AND COUNTERPRODUCTIVE THIS IS TO TREATMENT ALLOWING A PREDATOR A DANGER TO EVERYONE AND THEY DO NOT CARE AT ALL THEY ARE ALLOWING THIS TO HAPPEN THEY PUNISH THE PEOPLE WHI SPEAK UP

Compass changed my life. I have had anxiety for years but got to the point where I couldn’t function normally at work. Making the call to schedule intake was the scariest part. The work you do in the program will be… some of the hardest work you’ve ever or will ever do and it is 1000% worth it. I can’t recommend this program enough. Just make the call.

My son was in the PHP and IOP programs at the Chicago location to help him with his anxiety, ADHD, and regulating his emotions. Everyone on his team was absolutely amazing and had my son’s best interests at heart. Being… around other kids like him made him feel less alone. Enrolling him at Compass was the hardest decision my husband and I have ever made, but it was also the best decision we have ever made!

Compass Health Center has truly been a Godsend to our family. Everyone there has been incredibly compassionate, thorough, and genuinely invested in the well-being of our children. Their staff goes above and beyond to… make both parents and kids feel supported, heard, and cared for. I cannot express enough how grateful we are to have had our child receive care at this facility. The difference they have made in our family's life is immeasurable, and I wholeheartedly recommend Compass Health Center to any family seeking exceptional mental health care for their loved ones, especially young children.

This is just another corporation who prioritizes money and profit.

I’ve done both the trauma and OCD programs with Compass, and they are doing life saving work. I would recommend Compass to literally anyone who is struggling. It will change your life and help you feel empowered to live… a life aligned with your values.

Very queer friendly staff and procedures. Would highly recommend for any concerned queer folks!

I will say off the top, my experiences are my own and my window of tolerance was very small when I was at Compass last, so my accounts may very well be distorted through a complex trauma lens. I cannot in good… conscience recommend Compass' trauma program to anyone, especially any bipoc or disabled folk. I will also say that I have nothing but respect for the clinicians that work there, but the failings of the administrative side of Compass truly failed me as a client. I came to Compass' trauma program almost immediately after my most recent SA. I got extremely triggered after a few incidents that happened from Compass' administrative failings. Firstly it was told very vaguely about a "wardrobe malfunction". To this day I don't know what the malfunction they were referring to was, but it triggered me to the point of drowning myself in baggy clothes even though I was constantly overheating, and I no longer felt comfortable stretching for pain relief in the group rooms. The second trigger actually came from fellow clients during lunch, though I still hold Compass at fault, because every other php I've been to since, have proctored lunches so that a therapist can redirect conversation as needed. The conversation I had at lunch directly fed on my fears about SA from doctors, and really influenced my SI to be active and get into plan-forming stages. When I was at Compass I was suffering from a really bad flare from my chronic illness, and was extremely weak. I was, and still am, a wheelchair user. After a week of continously asking for help with my mobility needs I was continually denied and then met with the question if those accommodations were working towards independence. This was very insulting to me on multiple levels. Firstly, Independence is not a value that I was working towards at the time. It was assumed that independence was my value, not considering that I come fom a collectivist culture. Secondly, it is incredibly ablist to tell a disabled wheelchair user that they should be working toward independence. What a luxury that would be. What I would not give to be able to travel independently, to not be reliant on all-to-often broken down elevators, door switches, and poorly spaced handicapped bathrooms. It felt hellish to realize in quick succession just how much the world is not made for me. Why would my trauma therapy program be any different? I've lost a lot of faith in any and all systems I have and will take part in, and while Compass is definitely not the only reason I'm jaded, it certainly didnt help. All I was asking for was for a Group Therapist to check in after groups if I needed assistance pushing my wheelchair, since I was constantly left by myself after groups because I was highly anxious, and extremely weak at the time. While I could push myself sometimes, I often couldn't, and felt completely abandoned in those moments. I even got stuck in an empty group room for at least 20 minutes once, because I was too weak to open the door by myself. The last perceived betrayal was my discharge. I was told that I was being discharged by Monday because they didnt think it "ethical" to keep me at program when they were triggering me so much. I assume this was because I was actively suicidal, and had nearly carried out plans while I was there before I stopped myself at the last minute. They recommended that I go to a residential program, but was never really helped with the process to get into those programs. On my last day, they knew that the place I was most likely going wouldn't be able to take me for over a week, and I was still discharged. That week was the most terrifying of my life. While I knew I could go to a hospital if I really was in danger of ending my life, I was still terrified from my SA that happened at an ER. I made it, and have had a lot of repairative experiences at Skyway Behavioral Health. I have gratitude that I was able to meet great people at Compass, but I hope that these failings are addressed for the sake of future disabled folk seeking care there.

Truly, I cannot recommend this program enough. The care team is phenomenal and attentive to your needs and group regularly tackles the tough-but-crucial aspects of trauma to understand and process. I saw so many people… walk out of program as different, healed people, or at the very least strong people equipped to deal with life head on. The only reason I give this program 4 stars instead of 5 is that, as someone who was actively experiencing acute trauma through my time in the program, I feel I didn’t take or learn a lot from programming. There’s not really a space to process those things as it’s happening as group therapy spaces require you to be vague, and as I was experiencing that trauma I hadn’t processed it enough to be able to bring it to group and tackle. I was left stuck in group settings unable to pull anything from sessions while being stuck in my mind. I wish I was given some space to process that acute trauma but I’m happy to take what I’ve learned here and better apply it in outpatient therapy That said, especially as a step-down into this program, I highly recommend it. You learn a lot of crucial, valuable skills through programming here and while I might not have had the most effective treatment, I saw huge, meaningful changes in the minds and lives of my peers every day. If you’re needing help or feeling stuck, come here, it’s worth it.

I entered Compass when it became obvious that my anxiety and depression were starting to seriously affect my life. I didn't know what to expect exactly, but I had people close to me who told me that they had been helped… there. While I went in initially expecting to be "fixed", what I found might have been even better. A fixed thing can be broken again. Instead, I found an inclusive and welcoming space. Very low-stakes and low pressure where I could give voice to my deepest anxieties without judgement, and find support and validation instead. And rather than simply being "fixed", I was taught a range of tools and lessons that I can apply for the rest of my life. The bad feelings aren't gone, but now I have a defense against them that will keep them from controlling my life. It's an emotionally intense process, and there's no guarantee how long it'll take, but if you can make it work and you enter the program in good faith with an open mind, it may be able to help you too (Having experienced both, I highly recommend their in-person programs over virtual)

The staff are very supportive and I had a productive time there. The billing department and staff are not supportive and are a complete mess. I had met my OOP with my first session there but they continued to try to… bill me periodically despite my repeated explanations. I finished with the program last week and I suddenly started getting billed again. Now they are demanding that I prove to them that I met my OOP, which is something they can easily verify.

I want to start by saying I truly appreciated the nursing staff, Dr. Erica, and a few of the group therapists at Compass Health. There were people there who genuinely cared, and I’m thankful for the support they gave me… during a difficult time. However, overall, the IOP program did not feel beneficial for me personally. I often felt more like a body in a room than a person receiving individualized care. As a Black woman from Chicago, I struggled to feel culturally understood or emotionally safe enough to fully open up in group sessions, including the BIPOC groups. A lot of programs think adding a “BIPOC group” automatically solves cultural competency. It doesn’t. As time went on, I found myself dreading going to groups. The sessions felt long, emotionally draining, and disconnected from my lived experiences. I understand outside stressors in my personal life also impacted my mental health, and maybe I needed a different type of program or more individualized support. But during my time there, I felt my mental health decline more than improve. Honestly, the main things I looked forward to were my weekly conversations with Dr. Erica and seeing certain therapists who made me feel seen, supported, and human.

It was a great experience

Compass truly changed my life! I was in the virtual space, and I highly recommend this program to anyone even just thinking about it. The amount of caring and support that they provide is unmatched. IOP was not… something that I even knew about prior to joining the program. I cannot express the amount of gratitude that I have, but you guys have my utmost respect. Thank you, thank you, thank you! God bless every single one of you.

I went to Compass Health because my therapist said I had to complete an IOP as I expressed suicidal thoughts. I did not like the way the program was formatted. I did not like how I had to spend 9 am to 3:30 pm on the… program - it got in the way of my life. I have school and work, so I don't think it was a good fit for me. It felt awkward being in a group. it was easy to participate, but most of it was a lecture. Which makes sense since they try to go over emotions and skills. I did get some time one-on-one, but it was at the end of the day. I'm sure it works for some people, but I couldn't do it.

I've gone through several IOPs, and this was by far the best. It was comprehensive and professional. I really liked that they didn't focus solely on CBT and DBT. They included elements of ACT (Acceptance and Commitment… Therapy) which really resonated with me.

Compass Health Center is a place that has served our family in myriad ways. Our child was a patient there as part of their PHP/IOP, suffering from anxiety, screen dependence, emotional dysregulation, and school refusal.… They have held us up as parents as we have learned to not only cope with the challenges with come with learning how to parent a child with these struggles, but also how to support our child with the skills they are taught while in program. The staff members are full of strategies, genuinely care for their patients and their support systems (families, etc), and work diligently with school to bridge treatment plans throughout the time spent there, as well as when it's time to transition back to school. Ultimately, if your child is struggling with negative self-talk, school refusal, and/or anxiety, look no further than Compass in the City of Chicago. We are so grateful for their support, guidance, and grace as we've navigated this time in our lives. As parents, we are better for our experience, and our child has grown immensely in their time there. Thank you to all of those who work to support these kiddos as they learn about themselves, how to move through this complex world, and come out stronger on the other side. We appreciate you deeply. Trust them with your child - they will do right by you and by them.

My wife and I are writing to express our deepest gratitude for the care our daughter, received during her time in the virtual PHP and IOP programs. The growth we have witnessed is a testament to the high level of… dedication of your therapists and clinical expertise at your facility. The program provided her with the necessary skills to manage her mental health independently, allowing her to reintegrate into her social and family life with newfound confidence. Furthermore, the support extended to us as parents has been invaluable. The tools we learned at Compass from our family therapist have fundamentally improved our parenting approach across our entire household. We cannot thank the team enough for their profound impact on our lives. We would highly recommend Compass to everyone!!