Bilingual Trauma and EMDR Counseling for Teens and Adults
Wanting to actually understand how to help — instead of just watching things happen — is a big part of why I'm in this work.
Hi, I'm Noel Cordova, a bilingual Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC) at Shift Counseling, PC in North Riverside. I work with teens and adults in English and Spanish, mostly around depression, anxiety, trauma, and recovery.
A lot of the people I meet have been carrying something heavy for a long while without a place to set it down, or a person they felt comfortable handing it to. I try to be that person: steady, easy to talk to, and in no rush to make you explain yourself before you're ready. As a counselor with over 13 years of experience, I can often read between the lines and hear what people are trying to say, even when they're struggling to express themselves.
If you've been looking for a counselor who'll meet you where you are, you'll find that here. I see clients in person at our North Riverside office and virtually throughout Illinois.
Who I Work With
Most of the people I work with are teens or adults who have been managing more than they let on, often for years. For some, it's depression that's flattened everything out. For others, it's anxiety that won't switch off, or a past experience that still has a grip on the present. And for a lot of my clients, it's a relationship with substances they're finally ready to look at honestly.
Here's some of what we tend to work on together:
You don't need to show up with it all figured out, or even know where to begin. Helping you find the words, and then actually do something with them, is the part of this work I love most.
The Path That Brought Me Here
Growing up, addiction touched a lot of people in my family, and I spent a long time worrying if the same cycles of trauma and addiction were waiting for me too, and if they were ever possible to break.
I wanted to stop feeling like all I could do was watch, and to actually understand what was going on so I could help. It wasn't just my own family. People in my community were dealing with similar things, and finding support in Spanish, from someone who understood where they were coming from, wasn't easy. That's what brought me into counseling. The more I learned, the clearer it became that trauma and addiction often come together, and that making a real difference meant learning to work with both. I've lived in the Chicago area most of my life, and I think that matters. Knowing the community I work in, not just as a clinician but as someone who grew up here, shapes how I understand the people who come to see me. I've worked in this field since 2011, first in community mental health and after school programs, and in private practice since 2018.
Along the way, I've worked with men, women, and teens on everything from everyday stress to serious mental health and recovery challenges, and led workshops for parents and kids too. That range has shaped how I approach this work: present, patient, and comfortable with whatever you bring through the door.
Outside of work, you'll usually find me listening to music, playing video games, or spending time with my family.
My Training and Background
BA in Psychology, DePaul University, 2008
MA in Clinical Counseling, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, 2012
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), Illinois
Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC)
Trained in EMDR since 2019
What Makes My Approach Different
I lean on evidence-based approaches and match them to you instead of running everyone through the same routine. That usually includes:
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
To help you notice and shift the thought patterns keeping you stuck.
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EMDR
For processing trauma and the memories still driving how you feel today.
As a CADC, I also bring a specific lens to recovery. I've seen what it costs when people don't get support until things have already gone too far, and I don't want that to be the story for the people I work with.
When we start working together, I get an honest read on where you actually are and how ready you feel to change, and we move at that pace from there. I take a harm-reduction approach, and I can also help you hold onto abstinence if that's the goal you choose. The point is your goals, not mine.
Trauma Therapy and EMDR
When something painful from the past still has a hold on your present, it can keep you bracing, avoiding, and feeling unsafe in situations that aren't actually dangerous anymore. Helping you loosen that hold is a big part of what I do.
I'm trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a therapy built specifically for processing trauma. The work usually moves through a few stages:
Noticing the negative beliefs you've come to hold about yourself
Tracing them back to the memories where they took root
Slowly building more accurate, kinder beliefs in their place
A lot of EMDR happens in the body, not just the mind. We pay close attention to what happens physically when you get triggered, and we build self-stabilizing skills so you have something steady to reach for in those moments. Over time, as we desensitize those triggers, the things that used to feel overwhelming start to lose their grip, and you can get back to living instead of organizing your life around what you're trying to avoid.
Working With Teens and Adolescents
I've spent years working with teens and I've gotten good at it. By the time kids hit their early teens, around 12 or so, pulling away from parents and leaning toward friends and screens is completely normal. But when that shift happens alongside signs of depression or anxiety, it gets a lot harder to read from the outside. Parents can usually sense that something's off, but their teen may not want to open up to them about it, and a lot of the time it's simply easier to talk to someone outside the family.
A lot of the teens I work with are guarded, quiet, or not sure they even want to be in the room at all. I've gotten good at meeting them there and finding goals that actually matter to them, so therapy brings their symptoms down while also easing some of the worry their parents have been carrying.
Therapy for Men
Working with men is something I've been doing throughout my career, and it's work I care about deeply. I've been doing it long enough to know how rarely men feel like they actually have a space to say what's going on, and what it costs them when they don't.
Men are so often taught to handle everything alone, to push through, and to treat needing help as a kind of failure. That message runs deep, and it shows up across every culture I've worked with. As a male counselor, I want to offer men something different: a place to say the hard things out loud, to be unsure, and to ask for help without fear of losing respect.
I've found that many times family members, partners, or friends may be frustrated by the self-destructive coping skills men tend to use when they don't have better alternatives. When a man's coping becomes healthier, they start speaking up about what they need, and they start taking better care of themselves. This often strengthens the healthy relationships in their lives.
Let's Get Started
Getting started is simple, and if I have openings that line up with your availability, we can often begin within a week.
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Reach out.
Use our contact form or book a free 15-minute consultation. On the call you can share what is going on and we can explore how I can help.
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Have your first session.
We'll talk through what brought you in and start getting a feel for where you want things to go.
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Begin the work.
We build a plan together, track how it is going, and adjust as we go.
At Shift Counseling, PC in North Riverside, we're in network with BCBS PPO, Blue Choice PPO, Aetna, Cigna, First Health, MyBlue Plus, and Lyra EAP, and we accept FSA and HSA. We'll verify your benefits and give you an estimate of your out-of-pocket cost before your first appointment.
Ayuda Psicológica
Hola, soy Noel Cordova, LCPC, CADC, un consejero bilingüe en Shift Counseling, PC en North Riverside. Trabajo con adultos y adolescentes (de 13 a 65 años) que viven con depresión, ansiedad y trauma, y también puedo ayudar a personas que enfrentan trastornos por uso de sustancias. Tengo amplia experiencia en terapia cognitiva-conductual (TCC) y en terapia de Desensibilización y Reprocesamiento por Movimientos Oculares (EMDR). Soy una persona conocedora y tranquila, y disfruto ayudando a la gente.
Tengo licencia en el estado de Illinois y solo puedo atender a personas que se encuentren físicamente en Illinois durante la sesión. Atiendo tanto en persona en nuestra oficina como por telesalud. No ofrezco terapia de pareja ni terapia familiar, y no puedo recetar medicamentos.
En Shift Counseling, PC en North Riverside, trabajamos con BCBS PPO, Blue Choice PPO, Aetna, Cigna, First Health, MyBlue Plus y Lyra EAP, y aceptamos tarjetas FSA, HSA y HRA. Verificaremos tu cobertura y te daremos un estimado de tu costo antes de tu primera cita.
Si necesitas ayuda en español para programar una cita, usa el botón de abajo.
FAQs
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Noel is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC) at Shift Counseling, PC in North Riverside, Illinois. He's a bilingual male counselor who works with teens and adults in English and Spanish, focusing on depression, anxiety, trauma and PTSD, and recovery. He holds a BA in Psychology from DePaul University and an MA in Clinical Counseling, and he's trained in EMDR and CBT.
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Noel works well with teens and adults who've found it hard to open up before, including people who feel cautious about therapy or have been told to "tough it out." If you want a counselor who's calm, easygoing, and genuinely hard to rattle, you'll likely feel at home with him. He sees adolescents 13 and up and adults, but does not work with young children or provide couples, family, or court-ordered counseling.
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The free 15-minute consultation is a quick call where you can share what's going on and ask Noel whatever you want about how he works. From there you can decide for yourself whether it feels right, with no obligation to book.
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EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a therapy designed to help people process trauma and the memories still affecting them. Noel uses it to help clients identify the negative beliefs trauma left behind, build steadier self-stabilizing skills, and gradually take the charge out of triggers that once felt overwhelming. Many clients find it helps them stop avoiding and bracing so they can get back to their lives.
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Yes, and it's harder to find than most people expect. Noel is a fully bilingual counselor who provides EMDR in both English and Spanish, so you can process trauma in the language you actually think and feel in, rather than translating the hardest parts as you go. He offers Spanish-language EMDR in person at our North Riverside office and online anywhere in Illinois. If it's easier to reach out in Spanish, you're welcome to.
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Yes. If you already have a therapist you want to keep, Noel can provide EMDR as adjunct care, meaning he does focused EMDR work with you for trauma while your primary counselor continues the rest. It's a good option when your current therapist doesn't offer EMDR but you don't want to start over with someone new. Adjunct EMDR is often a self-pay arrangement, and Noel welcomes self-pay clients. Reach out and we'll walk you through how it would work.
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Noel is licensed in Illinois as an LCPC and is also a CADC. He earned a BA in Psychology from DePaul University and an MA in Clinical Counseling, and he's trained in EMDR. He's worked with teens and adults since 2011 across community mental health, after-school programs, and, since 2018, private practice.
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At Shift Counseling, PC in North Riverside, we're in network with BCBS PPO, Blue Choice PPO, Aetna, Cigna, First Health, MyBlue Plus, and Lyra EAP, and we accept FSA, HSA, and HRA cards. Noel also welcomes self-pay clients, including people who want standalone or adjunct EMDR outside of insurance. We'll verify your benefits or walk you through self-pay rates and give you an estimate of your out-of-pocket cost before your first session. For current rates, see our Fees page.
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Yes. Noel sees clients in person at our North Riverside office and virtually throughout Illinois, including Broadview, Westchester, Brookfield, La Grange Park, Berwyn, Forest Park, and Chicago. Telehealth makes it easier to stay consistent even with a packed schedule or a long commute.
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We see clients by appointment only. Please provide at least 24 hours notice if you need to cancel or reschedule. Missed sessions without 24-hour notice are subject to a $50 fee.
Ready to take the first step?
Reach out today to schedule your free consultation, in-person in North Riverside or virtually anywhere in Illinois.