Building Connections

Thank you for your interest in our practice! We are a group of clinicians dedicated to helping clients throughout the lifespan heal from past traumas,  deal with every day challenges and transitions, and find greater enjoyment and fulfillment in life. Our practice was founded in 2007 as Michelle Cutler, Ph.D. and Associates, and renamed in 2022 to better reflect our work and our group. We enjoy working together as a team, and consider it a privilege to be a part of our  clients’ path to growth.

Why “Rooted Connections?”

At the core of healthy development and functioning is the capacity to form connections – within our family, our community, and greater humankind, at all points in life.  All relationships are based in the roots of the caregiving we experience early in life; these caregiving relationships are our “roots” that lay the foundation for us to connect to others going forward.  A young child learns to explore the world by knowing that they have their caregivers as a secure base where they can return for rest and reassurance. At Rooted Connections Counseling, we work with both of these essential ingredients… we provide the space for healing and the development of connections rooted in safety and security.

We facilitate  Rooted Connections when we:

• Help caregivers to build strong roots in the relationship with their children
• Teach children the skills they need to build and maintain healthy connections with others
• Collaboratively work with clients to effectively assess, and conceptualize areas in which support is needed
• Help clients to develop the strong roots they did not develop due to prior traumatic events or relationships.
• Support healing from traumatic experiences, strengthening roots and allowing for continued healthy connections in the future

We are here to help with a variety of emotions and behavioral presenting issues, as we believe that “rooted connections” underlie help, healing, and hope.

We are fortunate to receive referrals and certifications from several organizations.

• Our practice has a long standing relationship with the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center (CCAC).  Several of of our therapists have trained or worked at the CAC, and have remained committed to providing therapy to children and families who have experienced sexual abuse, regardless of the ability to pay. Our practice is proud to be a part of the CAC’s PATTH (Providing Access Towards Hope and Healing) Network. As a network provider, our clinicians work with families referred by the CAC, and participate in ongoing training and relationship building with other PATHH agencies. Dr. Cutler serves on the steering committee for PATHH, and has been involved with the CAC since her role helping to develop the center’s mental health program in 2001.
• Our therapists are certified in Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), which allows us to provide PCIT, participate in training through the organization, and be included on provider listings.
• We are a provider of services through Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago’s  Mood, Anxiety, ADHD Care Collaborative Care (MAAC) Program.  This means that clients are referred to us through the MAAC Program, and we collaborate with treatment teams to provide the best care.
• Several of our therapists are providers for services through Ollie’s Branch, a program funded by the Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation. This foundation provides funding for therapy services for children and families with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).