Careers at Chicago Compass Counseling

Chicago Compass Counseling is an intentionally small, trauma-informed practice built on the belief that clinicians do their best work in environments that support them with dignity.

We stay small, around nine clinicians, because we have seen what happens when practices prioritize scale over care. We choose depth over growth, sustainability over productivity metrics, and real professional relationships over organizational complexity.

This is not a training practice. CCC is for seasoned clinicians who practice from self-authorship. Clinicians here have a clear clinical identity, the capacity to hold complexity and mutual accountability, and a desire to do meaningful work sustainably as part of a team

Who This Role Is For

This position is for mid-career psychotherapists seeking a long-term clinical home.

You have worked in various settings, including agencies, nonprofits, hospitals, and larger group practices, and you know what you need to do sustainable, meaningful work. You may have experimented with solo practice and found it isolating or administratively overwhelming, or tried platform-based work and found the experience lacking. You know yourself well enough to choose fit, and you are looking for a practice where you can build something steady over time.

You may be seeking:

• A clear, stable place to work that is free of politics, palace intrigues, crushing productivity metrics, layers of hierarchy, rapid scaling, or plans to sell to private equity. You want mature leadership and a practice built for longevity.
• Freedom from administrative overwhelm so you can focus on clinical work, with dedicated administrative support committed to the health of the team.
• Clinical autonomy within a supportive structure. You value opportunities to consult with colleagues, collaborate across family systems, and receive thoughtful client matching aligned with your interests and specialization.
• Flexibility in how and where you work. We support scheduling based on your availability and energy, without mandates for evenings or weekends. Our team includes Chicago-based clinicians, some of whom use our Loop office and some who work remotely, as well as clinicians in other locations. What matters is genuine engagement with the team and commitment to collaborative practice.
• Support for building real relationships in the Chicago community where the emphasis is relationship-building rather than performative networking, and where understanding levels of care and continuity of care matters.
• Leadership you can trust to be steady, transparent, and emotionally regulated.
• Colleagues who are skilled, boundaried, and genuinely collaborative. We hold regular all-staff meetings for shared check-ins and process, and we offer group clinical consultation in service of client wellbeing. Each team member brings different strengths, skills, and specializations, so cross-referral and mutual encouragement are built into our practice.
• A workplace that nourishes rather than depletes you. Care work is meaningful and demanding. You want clarity and simplicity so you can show up fully.

You are ready for work you can sustain long-term because it aligns with your values and respects your humanity. Meaningful work in a dignified setting matters more to you than external markers of success. You’re looking for an environment committed to staying present through uncertainty, with colleagues who understand that growth and healing are non-linear for ourselves, each other, and our clients.

If that resonates, we would be honored to meet you.

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Why CCC Is Different

A right-sized team

We are small enough that everyone knows each other. Collaboration is real and responsive. There is room to connect and build genuine collegial relationships.

Grounded, transparent leadership

Decisions are made thoughtfully and communicated clearly. Leadership is stable, emotionally mature, and focused on long-term sustainability. This is a practice grounded in integrity, role clarity, and accountability.

Meaningful administrative support

Our team handles intake scheduling, client matching, insurance billing and verification, claims investigation, and administrative client communication. Clinicians remain responsible for the financial aspects of their clinical relationships, including collecting payments, addressing outstanding balances, and following up when clients need to update insurance information. We view the financial as part of clinical care. Our shared systems and accountability free you to focus on the depth of your clinical work.

A calm, adult professional culture

We maintain a culture free of interpersonal drama, politics, and leadership theater. This includes unnecessary mandates and memos, meetings that could have been an email, toxic positivity that masks real problems, and urgency-driven pivots based on emotion rather than strategy. 

Communication is direct and respectful. Boundaries are clear. Problems are addressed without manufactured urgency. We are not trying to be a replacement community or pretend we are family. Work is work, and we are committed to making it dignified.

Sustainable clinical expectations

Caseloads are built at a pace that honors clinician and client wellbeing. Full-time at CCC is defined as 20 completed sessions per week. Part-time is defined as 10 completed sessions per week. We do not cap clinicians at these benchmarks, and we do not penalize temporary dips due to time off, seasonal shifts, or the natural ebb and flow of clinical work. You determine your availability for new client intake directly with our intake coordinator.

Values lived in practice

Our three core values, Right Relationship, Liberatory Values, and Accountability, emerged from collective discernment after a period of necessary repair. They guide how we make decisions, address conflict, and structure our practice.

• Right Relationship: We tend to ourselves, each other, and our clients with curiosity, authenticity, and accountability.
• Liberatory Values: We name and challenge oppressive systems in our work and in how we structure our practice.
• Accountability: We hold ourselves answerable to shared commitments through clear expectations, ongoing feedback, and a willingness to repair.

These values are not aspirational. We revisit them regularly because values require tending, not just announcing.

A place to share the work

We work in a place where the beauty and challenge of healing work can be shared among people we know and respect. We are small enough that relationships are real and stable enough that you can stay.

At CCC, we hold a simple truth. When clinicians feel psychologically safe, appropriately resourced, and respected as humans and professionals, they can offer their clients something extraordinary. This practice is designed to make that possible.

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Who This Role Is Not For

This role is not a good fit if you are:

• Seeking your first post-graduate role or still clarifying your clinical identity
• Looking for intensive supervision or a structured training environment in a specific modality
• Joining a group practice temporarily as a bridge to solo practice. We are selective about who we bring on because we see ourselves as a relational community
• Preferring an administrative affiliation over genuine team membership. We ask for real engagement (meetings, consultation, consideration of shared impact) while respecting the boundaries of work.
• Seeking a salaried position or career ladder. We offer commission-based W2 employment with distributed leadership. Your income grows through your clinical work.

We are clear about fit because clarity respects everyone’s time.

What the Work Looks Like

• Providing trauma-informed care to adults, and occasionally adolescents (if aligned with your interests), using advanced treatment approaches aligned with your clinical judgment and training
• Building and maintaining a sustainable caseload at a pace that honors your wellbeing and your clients' wellbeing
• Engaging in collegial consultation and shared reflection with team members, with access to weekly reflective group case consultation.
• Engaging in a calm professional culture where communication is direct and adult
• Contributing to a practice grounded in integrity and accountability, with values lived in structure, not just stated

What We Offer

• A small, intentionally designed clinical environment
• Administrative support, including scheduling, billing, insurance, and client communication
• Sustainable expectations and predictable systems
• Leadership that is steady, transparent, and emotionally mature
• Flexibility within a clear and supportive structure
• A workplace that values dignity, boundaries, and long-term wellbeing

Requirements

• Independent clinical license in Illinois (LCSW, LCPC, LMFT, or Psychologist) in good standing
• Mid-career clinical experience (typically five or more years)
• Demonstrated commitment to ethical, trauma-informed practice
• Alignment with CCC's values of Right Relationship, Liberatory Values, and Accountability
• Comfort practicing autonomously while engaging thoughtfully with a team