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 Summer Clinic Hours

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 9AM-4PM.
Thursday 10AM-5PM

Summer 2025 Therapy Intake Appointments will be available.

Monday
10am-12pm
12-2pm

Tuesday
9-11am
12-2pm

Wednesday
10am-12pm
1-3pm

Thursday
11am-1pm
1-3pm

Clients interested in therapy, please note after the therapy intake is complete, you will be placed on our therapy waitlist until we can assign you a therapy clinician or be provided referrals to therapy clinics with immediate openings.

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 currently closed.

COVID-19 Policies

To ensure the safety and wellbeing of all clients, staff, and clinicians, we have implemented a number of cleaning and protective policies within the OAPS clinic for in-person services.

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.

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

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 1/10^th 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

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.