Kristin Padera
Founder, Clinical Therapist and Yoga Teacher
MA, LCPC, EMDR, PMH-C, RYT-200
(she / her)
Virtual Sessions
Therapy for Female-Identified and LGBTQIA-Identified clients, 17+
Therapy in Illinois, Iowa and Michigan
I’m Kristin, a psychotherapist, yoga teacher, and founder of Padera Therapy and Wellness. I’ve been a therapist for more than a decade, and I still genuinely love this work and the relationships I get to build with my clients.
I founded Padera in 2017 because I wanted to create the kind of practice I’d always wanted to work at: thoughtful and clinically excellent without feeling sterile or weighed down by bureaucracy, affirming without making assumptions about people, and a place where therapists are allowed to be real humans, too. That philosophy still shapes the practice today and the way I work with my own clients.
My style as a therapist is warm, engaged, collaborative, and down-to-earth. I’m interested in what’s underneath the surface—why we do what we do, how our relationships and experiences shape us, and what happens when the ways we’ve learned to cope no longer fit the lives we want to live.
I’m especially drawn to working with women who have spent much of their lives being capable, responsible, perceptive, and very good at keeping things together. Many of my clients come to therapy after a late ADHD or autism diagnosis—or because they’ve started wondering whether neurodivergence might explain things they’ve struggled to understand about themselves for years. Motherhood often brings these questions to the surface, particularly when the systems and strategies that once worked suddenly aren’t working anymore.
I also work extensively with pregnancy, postpartum, and the enormous identity shift that can come with becoming a mother. I’m interested in the parts of motherhood we don’t always talk about openly: ambivalence, rage, overstimulation, loss of identity, changes in relationships and sexuality, the pressure to do everything well, and the strange experience of loving your children deeply while also sometimes wanting everyone to stop touching you.
Sex therapy and relational and sexual trauma are also significant parts of my work. I have a particular interest in working with people healing from purity culture and other experiences that have shaped their relationships with their bodies and sexuality. I help clients untangle shame, explore desire and boundaries, reconnect with their bodies, and figure out what they actually believe and want after years of being told who they should be.
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I specialize in working with late-diagnosed or questioning neurodivergent women and moms, perinatal mental health, relational and sexual trauma, and sex therapy. I also have a particular interest in working with people healing from purity culture, religious trauma, and other experiences that taught them to distrust their bodies, desires, or sexuality.
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I’m an active and engaged therapist. I’ll ask questions, help you notice patterns, offer perspective, and sometimes challenge you. I’m interested in the Whyunderneath things, but I also want therapy to translate into your actual life. Depending on what you need, that might mean deeper processing, practical tools, making connections to the past, or figuring out how to do something differently now.
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Clients have described me as warm, insightful, approachable, honest, and easy to talk to. I take the work we do seriously, but that doesn’t mean we have to take ourselves seriously all the time. Humor and a little irreverence tend to find their way into the room, too.
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Therapy with me is a real conversation and a place where you can exhale a little. You don’t have to perform, hold everything together, have the “right” answer, or mask parts of yourself. You can come in not knowing exactly what’s wrong or what you want to change. We can get curious about it together.
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I especially enjoy working with people who think deeply and are curious about themselves. Many of my clients have spent years being capable, responsible, perceptive, and very good at keeping everything together while privately wondering why life feels so hard.
I also love working with clients who want to understand the patterns underneath what they’re experiencing—family and attachment patterns, identity, relationships, sexuality, motherhood, neurodivergence, or the beliefs they inherited about who they were supposed to be. You don’t need to have it all figured out. A willingness to be curious goes a long way.
Therapy with Kristin
My approach is integrative, collaborative, trauma-informed, and neuro-affirming. After 14 years as a therapist, I’ve gathered a lot of tools, but I don’t believe one theory or treatment approach can explain every human being.
My training includes EMDR, DBT, sex therapy, yoga therapy, mindfulness, and Buddhist psychology. Sometimes we need to understand something intellectually. Sometimes we need to pay attention to what’s happening in the body. Sometimes we need practical tools. And sometimes we need to go back and understand why a pattern exists before trying to change it.
Being neuro-affirming also means I’m interested in what actually works for your brain and your life rather than measuring you against what “should” work. We’ll pay attention to your individual strengths, needs, sensory experiences, relationships, environment, and capacity—and adjust our work accordingly.
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Sex therapy is a type of talk therapy that allows clients to address underlying issues impacting their ability to have healthy, fulfilling sexual relationships.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a structured, goal-oriented type of talk therapy that can help manage mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, and emotional concerns, such as coping with grief or stress.
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Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is effective in reducing symptoms of PTSD experienced after traumatic events.
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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy treatment that is designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories.
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Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a type of talk therapy, specially adapted for people who experience emotions very intensely.
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Yoga is a mind-body practice that focuses on your physical, emotional and mental health.
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Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) addresses the mental health needs of people suffering from the destructive effects of early trauma.
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Motivational interviewing helps people resolve ambivalent feelings and insecurities to find the internal motivation they need to change their behavior.
Areas of Focus
Top Specialties:
Complex Trauma & PTSD
ADHD/AuDHD
Depression
Perinatal Mental Health
Women’s Issues
Areas of Expertise:
Anxiety
Bipolar Disorder
Borderline Personality (BPD)
Codependency
CNM/ENM/Poly Affirming
EMDR
Family Conflict
Kink/BDSM
LGBTQ+ Identity Struggles
Life Transitions
Mood Disorders
Peer Relationships
Pelvic Pain
Pregnancy, Prenatal, Postpartum
Relationship Issues
Self Esteem
Sex Therapy
Sex Positivity
Sex Workers
Stress
Works With
Female-Identified and LGBTQIA-Identified clients, 17+
In Network With
BCBS PPO
Aetna PPO
Anthem Blue Cross PPO
Cigna/Evernorth PPO
United/Optum PPO
Education
Masters in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in counseling, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, 2013
EMDRIA Certified Therapist™
ADHD-Clinical Services Provider
Certified Perinatal Mental Health Professional
Personal Interests
I love spending time in nature with my husband and kids. I always have a book in hand and love getting lost in both fiction and interesting memoirs. I enjoy travel, yoga, and being active.
Schedule a Session or Consult
Interested in working together? Fill out the form, call (630) 940-6828 or email scheduling@paderatherapy.com. We also offer a 15-minute free phone consultation.
Insurance or Self Pay
Learn more about using your insurance. If we are an out-of-network provider or you do not have insurance, our rate is currently $135 for a 50-53 minute session. However, we also offer reduced rates in special circumstances. Finances should never be a deterrent for seeking help.
