Mental Health and Yoga Therapy for Women in Evanston, IL

embodied healing

counseling & yoga

Empowering women who do it all to rediscover the strength that comes from asking for help.

Welcome

Welcome to Embodied Healing Counseling & Yoga
A collaborative women’s mental health practice in Evanston, IL offering therapy, somatic support, and therapeutic yoga for anxiety, life transitions, and nervous system healing.

Supporting women through life’s many transitions with insight, compassion, and integrative mind–body care.
At Embodied Healing, we help women navigating high-functioning anxiety, chronic stress, burnout, identity shifts, and major life transitions reconnect with themselves in meaningful and sustainable ways.

Our clinicians bring advanced training in women’s mental health, perinatal care, somatic approaches, and nervous system regulation, supporting clients through challenges related to motherhood, relationships, career changes, overwhelm, and emotional well-being.

Common reasons women reach out:

Anxiety, perfectionism, and feeling constantly “on”
Burnout, overwhelm, and chronic stress
Pregnancy and postpartum transitions
Identity shifts and changing roles
Feeling disconnected from your body or emotions
Difficulty slowing down or caring for yourself
Relationship and family stress
Wanting practical tools for emotional regulation and balance

Our Approach:
Our team integrates traditional psychotherapy with evidence-based somatic practices, mindfulness, nervous system regulation skills, and therapeutic yoga. We help clients deepen self-understanding, reconnect with their bodies, and develop practical tools for everyday life.

At Embodied Healing, we believe healing happens through curiosity, connection, & sustainable change. We’re here to meet you wherever you are.

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Cultivating healing and hope through mind, body, and spirit. Cultivating healing and hope through mind, body, and spirit. Cultivating healing and hope through mind, body, and spirit. Cultivating healing and hope through mind, body, and spirit. Cultivating healing and hope through mind, body, and spirit. Cultivating healing and hope through mind, body, and spirit. Cultivating healing and hope through mind, body, and spirit. Cultivating healing and hope through mind, body, and spirit. Cultivating healing and hope through mind, body, and spirit. Cultivating healing and hope through mind, body, and spirit.

Sound Familiar?

Does This

By the end of the day, you feel physically and emotionally drained.

Your mind is constantly cycling through a never-ending to-do list, and it feels like everything falls on your shoulders.

You’re holding yourself to impossibly high expectations—as a parent, employee, friend, partner—yet never quite feeling like you're doing enough.

Headaches, restless nights, poor posture, and muscle tension have become part of your daily life.

Guilt sneaks in often, and you find yourself thinking in shoulds more than you’d like.

Here’s what you can expect:

If you found yourself nodding along or even whispering yes to any of these, know that you’re not alone — and we’re so glad you’re here. Taking the step to seek support is an act of courage and self-care.
We know how hard it can be to ask for help. The truth is, we aren’t meant to do this alone. It takes a village to support our well-being, and we’d be honored to be part of yours.
With a blend of therapy, mindfulness, and movement, we’ll work together to create realistic, personalized goals while addressing the roadblocks that have been holding you back.

Reconnect with Your Values: Discover what truly matters to you and learn to align your choices with your authentic self.
Understand Your Emotions: Notice how your feelings show up in your body, relationships, and daily rhythms — and learn to respond with awareness instead of reactivity.
Develop Coping Skills: Build lasting tools for stress management, emotional regulation, and nervous system balance.
Take Meaningful Action: Get support and accountability as you take practical steps toward change.

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Our Team

We cannot wait to connect with you

Kristen Simons, LCPC, PMH-C, RYT

Founder and psychotherapist, yoga teacher

Mele Ortiz, LPC

A smiling woman in a red sweater, therapist Meleokalani Ortiz from Evanston, Illinois.

Psychotherapist, Advanced Somatic Experiencing Student

Arielle Polster, LCPC

Psychotherapist, specialized eating disorder therapist

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“Embodiment is a way to heal the mind-body divide we experience within ourselves and, more systemically, within Western cultures. To do so we need to understand the self as a body. Our body and our personhood are so intimately connected that they can never be separated. We are not just a mind, or brain, carried around by a meat-puppet of flesh and bones. Embodiment is a kind of re-remembering of who we really are, because what we picked up along the way was disembodiment. But disembodiment is not how we come into the world. It can be unlearned, while embodiment, our birthright, can be remembered. So embodiment is a coming home, a remembering of our wholeness, and a reunion with the fullness of ourselves.”

Hillary L. McBride, Wisdom of Your Body

ways to work together

A woman wearing glasses and a white shirt sits on a couch, representing a therapist for anxiety in Evanston, IL.

A simple vase holding a vibrant green plant, adding a touch of nature to the space.

Anxiety Therapy

Learn to understand your patterns, manage overwhelm, and reconnect with what matters.

Perinatal Therapy

Support through fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, and the identity shifts of motherhood.

Therapeutic Yoga

Mind–body sessions that support emotional balance and nervous system regulation.

Book a Free Consultation

Testimonials

"After our first session, I felt so great I knew it would be worth it for me to commit to this on a regular basis. I felt really relaxed and the movement was much needed for my body."

-private yoga student

Taking yoga with Kristen is like taking yoga with a friend.

-Emma, group class student

Can’t say enough good things about Kristen! Her yoga classes provided me with the exact support I needed both prenatal and postpartum. She’s amazing!

–Julia, Postpartum Support Group

"Kristen was my consistent, knowledgeable and resourceful guide through a very difficult period of my life. Her compassionate and thoughtful approach enabled me to openly voice my challenges and allowed me to take an active role in my therapy. Kristen not only provided me with attentive talk therapy, she also researched and recommended additional resources from books, support groups and holistic healers that profoundly impacted self awareness and allowed me to actively participate in the healing journey. I continue to use the tools I acquired through Kristen's tutelage and have embraced a calmer and peaceful state of being as a result of my therapeutic work. I highly recommend Kristen as an outstanding and valuable therapist!”

-J.P.L

"Over the course of just a couple years, Kristen has helped change my life. I definitely feel differences in how I deal with my anxiety, my parenting, my work and just being more present in life in general. She consistently strikes that ideal balance of listening actively and then offering useful and often wise counsel from her varied toolkit of skills, all with a sense of humor and even fun! I feel really lucky to have found her.”

-ron