Welcome! We’re glad you’re here.
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Challenges with relationships and sexuality can be difficult to bring to a therapist. When you make the brave decision to face these issues, you deserve a therapist who is attuned to and specialized in handling your unique situation with care. We welcome all cultures, ethnicities, and the LGBTQIA+ communities at our practice.

 
 

We believe…

in the healing power of counseling and fair access to quality care.

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Our ethics…

are the core of our practice: integrity, transparency, and truth.

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We stand…

firmly with the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities

 

Meet our team

 
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Amy Moran | Owner

Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor

Certified Sex Therapist

Perinatal Mental Health - Certified

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Amy ( Freier ) Moran, LCPC, CST, PMH-C is an AASECT-Certified Sex Therapist, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Perinatal Mental Health specialist, and the owner of Spark Chicago Therapy. She has years of extensive clinical experience in relationship and sex therapy, addressing common goals including enhancing the experience of sex and sexuality, improving empathy and emotional connection in a relationship, and reducing relational conflict. She also holds a special interest in working with the perinatal population, helping individuals and couples process relationship and sexual changes and transitions before, during and after childbirth. As an LGBTQIA+-, kink- and non-monogamy-affirming therapist, Amy works with individuals and couples experiencing sexual desire discrepancies, sexual functioning concerns, genito-pelvic pain, premarital counseling, and the overall improvement and revitalization of intimacy and sexual satisfaction.

Mikaela Wasserman |

Clinical Intern

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Mikaela Wasserman is a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern and Sex Therapist in training, currently a graduate student at Adler University. While she holds the title of Clinical Intern here in the States, Mikaela is a Registered Psychotherapist and a licensed practitioner in Ontario with clinical experience and training in relationship and sex therapy. She is a University of Ottawa graduate of the Master of Education Counselling Psychology program and holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Psychology with a specialization in Behavioural Neuroscience from Concordia University.

She has substantial research and clinical training in human sexuality, and practices humanistic psychotherapy informed by training in Narrative Therapy and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), while also drawing from Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and mindfulness practices.

Mikaela works with individuals and couples of all genders and sexual identities to navigate a variety of difficulties by creating an inclusive and supportive environment. She has clinical experience and training in sex therapy, polyamory, trauma, and interpersonal conflict, as well as managing issues related to depression, anxiety, shame, and anger. She also helps clients to navigate issues such as low sexual desire, sexual desire discrepancies within their relationship, sexual pain, difficulties with sexual arousal and orgasm, performance anxiety, and unique sexual interests. Mikaela is an LGBTQ2+ positive, kink-positive and sex positive counsellor and respects the individual experiences of all her clients.

 

Mikaela understands that sexuality is a very important part of life, with the potential to provide joy and pleasure, connection, and intimacy, but that it can also be complicated and challenging. She provides a safe and non-judgmental space where clients can be free to talk openly about their sexual as well as relational issues, experiences, and goals. She will help you work towards to the sex life and relationships you want.

Mikaela’s approach is direct and collaborative. She is focused on working with clients to identify their own relationship goals and challenges them in their pursuit.

In addition to her academic experience, Mikaela has clinical experience providing group therapy for anger management, low sexual desire, and relationship repair for couples. She has also recently engaged a community-focused wellness group for the residents of Chicago House, is a teaching assistant for sex therapy courses at Adler University and engaging in research on the role of sexual competencies for clinical practice with Marriage and Family Therapists.

Mikaela is a member of AASECT, SSTAR, AAMFT, IAMFT and CCPA and continues to pursue her professional development and personal growth through her engagement in these communities. Mikaela is working under the direct clinical supervision of Amy Berrafato, LMFT, CST.

Corin Garcia |

Master of Science in Marriage & Family Therapy

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Corin Garcia, MSMFT, is passionate about helping individuals and couples embrace their authentic self and spark play in their sexual relationships. As she walks alongside her clients, they can expect to nurture change from exploration of deeper emotions and vulnerabilities. She has found this work to create a healing experience for clients of all backgrounds, and particularly helpful for those clients who were socialized to not be in touch with their emotions.

Corin welcomes various identities, dynamics, and sexual practices that lie outside of dominant culture, especially individuals or couples that identify with or are curious about BDSM/kink/fetish. Her other interests in sex therapy include building intimate connection, sexual difficulties, desire discrepancies, sex workers, and sexual shame. Corin also has experience with family of origin trauma, male identifying populations, aging, and life transitions.

Corin adopts an Integrative Systemic Therapy approach because she believes therapy is not a one size fits all experience. This approach considers the many relationships and systems that influence us inside and outside of the therapy room. Through a collaborative, warm, and non-judgmental approach, Corin brings in therapeutic theories and practices from attachment theory, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Gottman Method. She merges somatic activities such as mindfulness and mind-body practices, to help clients explore and embrace all parts of themselves. Corin’s passion and curiosity for knowledge serves as an ongoing process throughout her journey as a clinician. 

Corin completed her Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy at Northwestern University and underwent clinical training at The Family Institute. Prior to her graduate education, she received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago. Corin is a member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT), Kink and Poly Aware Chicago Therapists (KPACT). She is receiving clinical supervision at Spark Chicago Therapy under Amy Stewart, LMFT, CST.

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Amy Berrafato |

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

Certified Sex Therapist

Senior Clinical Associate

Clinical Supervisor

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Amy Berrafato is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and AASECT-Certified Sex Therapist specializing in relationship issues with individuals and couples throughout various life stages. She is also the Clinical Supervisor at Spark Chicago Therapy. Amy guides clients toward improved communication and conflict resolution skills, enhanced understanding of values and beliefs around sex and intimacy, and a strengthened foundation of emotional resilience when navigating stress. She holds a particular interest in helping high-conflict couples stabilize, addressing family of origin dynamics, making authentic relationship decisions, and integrating spiritual and religious values into relationship work around sexuality.

Her expertise includes a wide range of issues related to anxiety, depression, and stress within dating, marital preparation, relationship ambivalence, transition to parenthood, desire discrepancy, infertility, infidelity, divorce contemplation, and grief/loss. She also enjoys working with those in the helping professions, offering support within the unique blend of personal and professional worlds.

Amy’s therapeutic approach is direct, emotion-focused, curious, and insightful. She challenges clients to prioritize their relationship goals, and holds them accountable as agents of change. She also holds a deep respect and understanding for the vulnerability required in therapy, and is honored to be a part of the process.

Amy earned her Bachelor’s degree in psychology and Spanish from Saint Louis University and her Master’s degree in marital and family therapy from the University of San Diego. Her early training included clinical work at the Department of Veterans Affairs in San Diego, with a focus on individual and couples therapy with military veterans and their families, followed by further experience working within mental health organizations providing a wide range of clinical services to adolescents, families, and adults of all ages.

In addition to her previous clinical work at Enliven Couples Therapy, Amy also served as Adjunct Professor in the Couple and Family Therapy program at Adler University. She is fluent in Spanish, and has extensive experience treating clients of various cultural backgrounds, including interfaith, interracial, and bicultural individuals and couples. Amy is a Clinical Fellow of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and a professional member of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT), and continues to expand her clinical range through ongoing commitment to personal and professional growth.

Lily Sahaguian |

Licensed Professional Counselor

Registered Yoga Teacher

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Lily Sahaguian, LPC, RYT believes that therapy is a courageous and necessary process toward self-discovery, and she is committed to supporting her clients with compassion while focusing on therapeutic outcomes. Lily embodies a sex-positive mindset and utilizes a solution-based approach toward healing.

Lily’s clinical practice is rooted in several evidence-based models, including Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Gottman Method, mindfulness based therapies, and attachment theory. She has special interests in working with couples experiencing sexual desire discrepancies, premarital counseling, the unique period of transitioning to parenthood, sexual functioning concerns, infidelity, and consensual non-monogamy (CNM).

In addition, as a yoga therapist, Lily embraces a unique holistic view of wellness that includes the spiritual domains of the mind-body connection.

Lily holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Colorado in Denver and a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Bradley University. Lily trained here at Spark Chicago Therapy during her Masters internship, and was promptly hired upon graduation after witnessing her innate affinity toward and skills in relationship and sex therapy.

Lily is working under the direct clinical supervision of Amy Berrafato, LMFT, CST. After her undergraduate studies, Lily gained extensive experience in analyzing racial, gender, and sexuality narratives among adolescents where she published her work though collaborative efforts at Northwestern University. She believes that identity-related narratives develop during adolescence and can change throughout the lifespan. In this way, Lily is committed to support clients who are making meaning of who they and who they wish to become in the realm of their sexual identities.

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Amy Stewart |

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

Certified Sex Therapist

Senior Clinical Associate

Clinical Supervisor

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Amy K. Stewart, LMFT is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and AASECT-Certified Sex Therapist with years of experience working alongside clients to cultivate their authentic sexuality and embrace healthy intimate relationships. She utilizes a very honest, open and sex-positive approach to assist clients in identifying their own unique goals, ultimately accompanying them in developing more positive and fulfilling relationships- with themselves and with partners.

Amy practices from a deeply systemic perspective with a robustly feminist lens, regularly incorporating both humor and research into sessions. She has a special interest in empowering women to foster their own distinct relational and sexual identities. She also enjoys helping individuals and couples navigate the challenges of consensual non-monogamy, ethically open and non-traditional relationships, as well as working to create a sense of equity in relationships that lean a bit more toward the conventional.

In addition to general sexual and relationship work, Amy is adept at helping folks shift from feeling stuck in relationships. She is trained as a Level One Relational Life Therapist, a mode of therapy that focuses on joining clients through the truth and directly challenging assumptive roles and the losing strategies that couples utilize within relationships.

Amy also enjoys working with clients as they transition through different phases of life and relationships. This includes offering premarital and precommitment counseling as a trained Prepare Enrich facilitator, creating space for assessing and developing skills that lay the groundwork for lasting relationships.

Amy has been steeped in studying and working with sexuality for over two decades. Prior to obtaining her Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from The Family Institute at Northwestern University, she studied Psychology, Sociology and Gender Studies at Indiana University, while also holding a research position at the world-renowned Kinsey Institute. Following graduate school, she was personally trained and mentored by Dr. Laura Berman as the primary psychotherapist at The Berman Center. Amy then went on to run her own boutique Sex and Relationship Therapy practice for many years before joining Enliven Chicago and ultimately transitioning with the team to Spark Chicago Therapy. She is also a member of Kink and Poly Aware Chicago Therapists (KPACT) and the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (ISSWSH).

Find Amy Featured In:

Pretty Progressive

Chicago Parent

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Rebecca Patterson |

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Rebecca Patterson is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in sex therapy. She is dedicated to helping clients of all identities and sexual preferences rewrite the relational narratives that are no longer in alignment with their values, life stage, or desires. Rebecca particularly enjoys working with clients who are healing from trauma, struggling with desire, or experiencing anxiety—helping to guide them in creating a more connected relationship with their full authentic selves. Rebecca also helps couples mindfully navigate consensual non-monogamy, kink, BDSM, and other co-created and consensual relational dynamics. Rebecca encourages clients to craft their own scripts that fit their unique relational landscape, and her interventions are informed by the view that sexual expression can enhance intimacy and facilitate personal growth.

Rebecca’s clinical approach is both collaborative and direct. She is a genuine systemic thinker, which is enhanced through cognitive behavioral techniques and an emphasis on understanding her clients comprehensively, from childhood to the present.

 

In addition to her work in couples and sex therapy, Rebecca has a special interest in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Mindfulness is a powerful thread throughout all of her clinical work. She believes the body keeps the score, so she prioritizes a strong mind-body connection. Rebecca has been a practitioner of traditional Ashtanga yoga for over a decade and has a honed personal meditation practice, which she uses to inform her work.

Rebecca received her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan before obtaining a Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy from The Family Institute at Northwestern University. She has been actively involved in the field of relational and sexual health for years, working as a teaching assistant in the highly popular course Marriage 101 at Northwestern University, facilitating events and trainings for Esther Perel, and gaining training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy.

 

What We Treat

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01. Individual/General Issues

  • Life transitions and stress

  • Anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders

  • Trauma

  • Body image

  • Confidence and self esteem in work, friendships, dating, relationships, etc.

  • Navigating dating and forming relationships

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02. Sexuality/Sexual Functioning Issues

  • Desire Concerns: Disinterest in sex | Low desire for sex

  • Arousal Concerns: Difficulty getting/maintaining an erection | Difficulty staying “present”

  • Orgasm Concerns: Difficulty reaching orgasm | Delayed ejaculation | Premature ejaculation

  • Painful intercourse and other chronic pain

  • Shame around sex, sexuality, masturbation, etc.

  • Navigating the effects of aging on your sexual experience

  • Sexuality and religion

  • Sex after trauma

  • Exploring kink

03. Relationship Issues

  • Communication issues | Difficulty resolving conflicts

  • Coping with infertility

  • “Sexless” relationships, or relationships that feel more like roommates than romantic partners

  • Desire discrepancy (one partner desires sex more than the other)

  • Recovering from infidelity

  • Exploring non-monogamy

  • Interfaith marriages

  • Feeling ambivalent about your relationship

  • Navigating personality differences, such as parenting styles, finances, family/social obligations

  • Preparing for marriage

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04. Perinatal Concerns

  • Perinatal Anxiety and Moods Disorders (PMADs)

  • Transitioning into parenthood

  • relationship changes in the perinatal period

  • Reintegrating sex after kids

  • pregnancy and birth trauma

*This is neither a full nor comprehensive list of issues we treat. If you don’t see your specific concern, reach out to us to see if we’d be a good fit for you!

Collaborative Care

We pride ourselves in collaborating with some of the best physicians and clinicians in Chicago. Our network of high-quality referrals includes incredible gynecologists, urologists, physical therapists, and other general therapists with whom we collaborate often. Your therapist will offer referrals once you both decide it would be beneficial to your wellness.

The Loveland Foundation

We value inclusivity, and we are culturally sensitive and informed clinicians. spark chicago therapy is a proud supporter of The Loveland Foundation’s Loveland Therapy Fund, which provides financial assistance nationally to Black women and girls seeking therapy.

Brave Space Alliance

We also support and give to Brave Space Alliance, the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ Center located on the South Side of Chicago. This amazing organization creates and provides affirming, culturally competent resources, programming, and services for LGBTQ+ individuals on the South and West sides of the city.