Office of Applied Psychological Services
Office of Applied Psychological Services (OAPS)
University of Illinois Chicago
Office of Applied Psychological Services
Link to our brochure
The Office of Applied Psychological Services (OAPS) is a mental health clinic in the Psychology Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). We offer therapy and psychological assessment using approaches that are based on scientific theory and supported by scientific evidence, with an emphasis on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques. OAPS serves the UIC community, including faculty, staff, and students, as well as people living or working in the greater Chicago area.
OAPS Clinic Hours
Monday-Wednesday 9AM-4PM
Spring 2026 Therapy Intake Appointments will be available:
Monday
1–3 PM
Tuesday
11:30 AM–1:30 PM
Wednesday
9–11 AM
10 AM–12 PM
Substance use Policies:
If we suspect that you/your child are under the influence of substances (e.g., alcohol, marijuana, vaping, etc.), we will ask that you reschedule your appointment, as we are unable to provide effective care, and collect data under these circumstances. Additionally, consistent with UIC and OAPS policies, substances are not permitted on the premises.
Assessment Waitlist:
The assessment waitlist is open as of September 16th, 2025 and new clients who wish to be added to the OAPS assessment waitlist can expect to be contacted for their first appointment mid-2026.
OAPS Assessment Process
Thank you for your interest in OAPS. Please review the following information about the assessment process at OAPS. Our clinic typically has a 4-to-6-month waitlist for assessment (testing) services, and these procedures are in place to help reduce waiting time and ensure we can provide you with quality care. Our assessment process consists of an intake appointment, 2-3 testing sessions, and a feedback session, during which we review the results and recommendations and provide a comprehensive report. We expect the intake and testing sessions to occur over about 4 weeks, and the feedback session to occur about 4-6 weeks after all the needed information is collected (including informant reports).
Step 1: When you initially call, one of the clinic coordinators will provide information about our clinic, gather some initial information from you to ensure our clinic can meet your needs, and set your assessment fee. If our clinic is able to provide the appropriate service, you will be placed on an initial waitlist.
Step 2: When the clinic has an opening, we will contact you to see if you are still interested in receiving a psychological assessment.
- If you are still interested, you will be asked to complete two additional steps to be assigned to an OAPS clinician: (1) complete some online forms and (2) submit a $50 non-refundable deposit [https://appserv7.admin.uillinois.edu/FormBuilderSurvey/Survey/uic_department_of_psychology/oap_services/oap/Survey]. This deposit will go toward your assessment fee, which is due at your intake appointment. If we do not receive both the forms and deposit within two weeks of our contact, we will assume you are no longer interested and will remove you from the waitlist.
- If we do not hear back from you within 3 business days, after we have requested that you complete Step 2, we will assume you are no longer interested and will remove you from the waitlist. You may call us back at a future date.
Step 3: Once we receive your form and deposit, you will be assigned to an OAPS clinician who will complete your assessment. Given the length of our waitlist and training goals, once your clinician contacts you, you will need to schedule your intake appointment within two weeks.
In addition, clients are only allowed to reschedule/late cancel one appointment; otherwise you will forfeit your $50 deposit.
- Unfortunately, we are unable to hold your spot on the waitlist. If you are unable to attend appointments at this time, you will be removed from the waitlist, and you will forfeit your deposit.
Policies around attendance:
ALL new clients must physically come to the clinic for their intake appointment, due to the nature of the training clinic and to ensure client wellbeing. OAPS encourages all clients to attend sessions in person whenever possible. After the intake appointment, the use of telehealth can be discussed on a case-by-case basis with your clinician.
Contact-free Appointment & Paperwork
- Clients will receive access to a confidential portal to complete their intake documents prior to their appointment.
Symptom Screen
- New clients experiencing symptoms will be rescheduled; current clients experiencing symptoms can meet with a clinician via videoconference or telephone.
Services
Clinicians at OAPS are advanced graduate students in UIC’s Ph.D. Program in Clinical Psychology, which is accredited by the American Psychological Association. Graduate student clinicians are supervised by licensed clinical psychologists. OAPS provides a variety of services, including therapy and psychological assessment. We also provide referrals to appropriate agencies for problems that we do not treat.
OAPS is a training clinic, staffed by student clinicians, thus there are certain presenting concerns that we are unable to adequately treat here. These include, but are not limited to, suicidal intent (or acting on suicidal thoughts in the past three years), psychosis, detoxification from substance use, court-referred cases, difficulties resulting from a traumatic brain injury, and diagnosing or treating autism spectrum disorder that requires more comprehensive care. If you are struggling with any of these issues, we will do our best to provide you with referrals to clinics that would be a better fit for your care.
Given the small community of the psychology training clinic and the likelihood that clinical students and supervisors will come into contact with other psychology graduate students, we will not be able to provide therapy or assessment services to graduate students in the psychology department. Ethically, we want students and supervisors to avoid engaging in a dual role with clients. If a student feels very strongly about being seen at OAPS, please reach out to the clinic director, and we will assess circumstances on a case by case basis.
Therapy Services
Using cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), motivational interviewing (MI), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) and other evidence based practices (EBP), OAPS offers therapy for adults, children, families, and couples. We help individuals make changes that will improve their personal functioning and enhance their ability to cope with various life stressors. Therapy is available for a broad range of problems including depression, anxiety (e.g., O.C.D., panic disorder, social anxiety, separation anxiety, adjustment difficulties), trauma, substance use difficulties, relationship difficulties, parenting, emotion dysregulation, and personality disorders.
Given the dual mission of OAPS to both provide affordable, evidence-based services to the Chicago community and serve as a training clinic for graduate students, we ask clients to commit to weekly therapy sessions. This model allows client therapy goals to be most effectively achieved, and it allows our students to obtain the training they need for licensure. If weekly sessions are not the right fit for you, that’s no problem! We are happy to provide referrals to other clinics.
New clients who complete a therapy intake will be placed on our therapy waitlist and can expect to have a clinician assigned within 3-6 weeks.
Assessment Services
We offer comprehensive psychological and educational assessment services to adults and children. Assessments evaluate a range of concerns including but not limited to Specific Learning Disorders, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Intellectual Disability (ID), personality assessment, career choices, and other emotional and behavioral concerns.
Fees
Clients can pay in person by cash or check. Clients can also pay anytime by credit card. Credit card payments can be submitted using the following link:
OAPS sets fees for services on a sliding scale, based on clients’ income. Our therapy fee ranges from $15-$50, and our assessment fee ranges from $400-$850. We are a fully self-sustaining clinic and receive no additional support from the university, state, or government. Therefore, we need to ensure we can cover our expenses to continue providing services to our community. Our current prices align with our mission to provide high-quality, accessible services and average 1/10th of what commercial insurance reimburses for mental health services (e.g., the average cost of an assessment is ~$4,000). The clinic is committed to ensuring that all individuals have access to mental health care, regardless of financial constraints. We understand that various life circumstances can affect clients’ ability to pay for services, and we have a process for offering a temporary fee reduction under extenuating circumstances.
We do not accept any form of insurance, nor do we submit any claims to insurance for reimbursement. If a client wishes to receive reimbursement from their insurance carrier for OAPS services, that is the sole responsibility of the client. We can provide an invoice to the client with date of service, service provided, and fee, but we do not provide billing codes or fill out insurance-based forms.
We provide a free semi-structured therapy intake for clients who are seeking therapy services at OAPS. We also support clients in receiving a diagnosis to allow for academic or occupational accommodations. For those individuals solely seeking accommodations, who are not seeking therapy services, we charge a $25 administrative fee to complete documentation. Following a comprehensive psycho-educational assessment, we provide paperwork and a completed report free of charge. Clients will have one month from the feedback date to request any changes to their assessment report. Any additional reports, consultation, or paperwork will have a $25 charge. Please note, each subsequent request will incur a $25 administrative fee (e.g., a request for both an accommodation letter and social security paperwork will each be $25, totaling $50).
Primary Clinical Supervisors
Clinic Director: Jenna Rowen Szerszen, Ph.D.
Associate Director: Jasmin Searcy-Pate, Ph.D.
Director of Assessment Services: Katie Lawton, Ph.D.
Clinical Assistant Professor: Briahna Yuodsnukis, Ph.D.
Location
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Contact Information
To make an appointment or to learn more about OAPS, call 312-996-2540 and press “2” at the prompt to leave a message in the new client voicemail box or email us at UIC_OAPS@uic.edu. Your call will be returned within 1-2 business days.
Nondiscrimination Policy
The Office of Applied Psychological Services does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ethnic background, ancestry, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.