Robert Aber: Chicago Psychologist - Treatment Approach & Focus, Qualifications & Background

Qualifications

Education:
Undergraduate: Cornell University
Graduate: University of Florida
Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology granted in 1988

Award:
Florence Shafer Memorial Award for Excellence in Psychotherapeutic
Counseling

Residency Training:
Northwestern Univ. Medical School

Post-Doctoral Fellowship:
Northwestern Institute of Psychiatry

Years in Practice: 20+

Professional Affiliations:
Asst. Professor, Rush University Medical Center
Member, American Psychological Association
Member, Illinois Psychological Association
Member, Chicago Association for Psychoanalytic Psychology

Treatment Focus

Ages Treated: 16+

Modalities:
Individual Therapy
Couples Counseling

Treatment Approaches Used: Psychodynamic
Cognitive Behavioral
Interpersonal

Specialties:
Anxiety/Fears
Relationship Issues
Depression
Stress Management
Men's Issues
Anger Management
Impulse Control/Compulsions
Health/Medical Issues
Career Issues
Loss or Grief

Other Services

Expert Witness Consultation in Malpractice Litigation

The aim of counseling is to help you improve your life by making meaningful changes. A good therapist should, first and foremost, be able to help you reduce the immediate distress that has pushed you to look for therapy. Once that initial relief is accomplished, the way is then cleared to focus in counseling on the bigger-picture of your life: your beliefs and feelings about yourself and others, your interpersonal style, the usual ways in which you protect yourself from getting hurt, the influence of your childhood experiences, and many other factors, including highlighting and using your hard-won strengths, all with the aim of bringing about changes that lead to lasting improvements in quality of life. Psychotherapy offers a wonderful opportunity to discover more about who we are and what it is that we want and need from life and can help us feel compassion for ourselves and the courage to live more fully in the moment. Counseling also offers us the opportunity to grow in and improve our relationships.

I believe that therapy works best when it is tailored to the personality and the individual needs of each patient. Rather than relying on just one of the many modern approaches to psychotherapy, I pull from several disciplines, including psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral, which I believe yields faster and longer-lasting results. In my career I have treated, and helped, people from all walks of life, stages of life, gender identities, education levels, sexual orientations, diagnoses, personality styles and presenting problems, and most religions, ethnicities, and races. As of 2011 I have conducted more than 26,000 therapy sessions and I can say with confidence that my deep experience will be of benefit to you if you decide to take me on as your therapist.

My Background: I attended Cornell University as an undergraduate and the University of Florida for graduate school. I came to Chicago in 1986 for a Residency in Clinical Psychology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and in 1989 completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Northwestern University School of Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry. For several years following the completion of my formal schooling, I was fortunate to be invited to join a group of psychologists who met weekly with an eminent psychoanalyst, Merton Gill, MD., to learn from him through the presentation of our clinical work to the group.

Since 1989 I have been an Assistant Professor of Behavioral Sciences at Rush University Medical Center and have split my professional time between my private practice and a position as a Staff Psychologist at the Rush University Student Counseling Center. At the Student Counseling Center I have gained unique expertise in conducting therapy with medical students, medical residents, nursing students, and graduate students from a variety of healthcare-related programs. At Rush I have also served as the Director of the Outpatient Psychotherapy Service and have taught medical students and residents on a wide range of subjects: personality theory, psychodynamic therapy, psychoanalysis, interpretation of objective and projective personality measures, etc. In addition, and most enjoyably, I supervise the clinical work of Behavioral Sciences Residents and Fellows eager to improve their skills as psychotherapists.