Chicago Vet Center
Unhealthy substance use often goes hand-in-hand with PTSD, depression, or stress. We can help you understand how problematic drinking or drug use might be related to other stressors in your life. We’ll help support you with relapse intervention and prevention. We’ll also help connect you with more intensive or comprehensive substance use treatment programs within VA or in our community, if needed.
Our counselors use various methods of treatment when it comes to couples or family sessions.
We encourage our Veterans and service members to address any personal concerns through individual therapy. This can coincide with family therapy. During individual therapy, counselors may offer opportunities for your partner or other family members to join in the session, once or twice. This can provide an opportunity for your family members to learn more about your needs and ways to best support you during your treatment.
Couples and family therapy can help with:
- Improved communication needs
- Partner distress
- Problem solving skills
- Family transitioning challenges
- Expectations after the deployment
- Family changes during the deployment
- Numbing/avoidance in family interactions
- Sleep disturbances
- Child behavioral concerns
- Family violence/domestic abuse
- Managing stress as a family
- PTSD and the family
We’re committed to functioning as a focal point where Veterans, service members, and community partners can connect and engage. We actively partner with:
- Honor Flight Chicago
- Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery
- Merging Vets and Players (MVP)
- Chicago Veterans
- The Mission Continues
- Volunteers of America
- Travis Manion Foundation
- Wounded Warrior Project
Our networks also extend out to the First Responder departments throughout the Chicagoland area.
Please call 773-962-3740 if you or your organization is interested in learning more about ways to partner with us.
We offer bereavement counseling to any family members of Armed Forces personnel who died while serving on active duty. We also provide services to family members of Veterans that were receiving Vet Center services at the time of the Veteran's death.
Our staff is a diverse group, both male and female, with many of the staff being Veterans themselves, or having vast knowledge and/or experience working with Veterans, service members, and military communities. Our counselors are licensed clinical social workers (LCSW), licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFT) and licensed clinical professional counselors (LCPC).
We commonly address the following concerns:
- Difficulties adjusting to civilian life following deployment or activation
- Concerns of lack of meaning or purpose
- Unhealthy use of drugs and/or alcohol
- Anxiety and stress reactions
- Depression and lack of motivation
- Helping to address and cope with moral injury
- Sleep difficulties
- Anger, aggressive behavior, as well as reckless behaviors
We offer some of the following evidence-based treatments:
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
- Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE)
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Gottman Therapy for Couples
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
Military sexual trauma (MST) can continue to affect survivors long after the experience. It can also impact different traumas that may have occurred during your lifetime. You can call us at 773-962-3740. Our counselors have ways to help you cope with MST and empower you to not only survive but to thrive. Based on your preference, we have male and female counselors available to help you.
We recognize that asking for help takes courage. We pride ourselves on being able to offer a safe space to our Veterans and service members.
Our staff is a diverse group, both male and female, with many of the staff being Veterans themselves, or having vast knowledge and/or experience working with Veterans, service members, and military communities. Our counselors are licensed clinical social workers (LCSW), licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFT), and licensed clinical professional counselors (LCPC).
We commonly address the following concerns:
- Difficulties adjusting to civilian life following deployment or activation
- Concerns of lack of meaning or purpose
- Unhealthy use of drugs and/or alcohol
- Anxiety and stress reactions
- Depression and lack of motivation
- Helping to address and cope with moral injury
- Sleep difficulties
- Anger, aggressive behavior, as well as reckless behaviors
We offer some of the following evidence-based treatments:
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
- Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE)
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Gottman Therapy for Couples
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
We recognize completing your military service can come with a variety of new challenges. Navigating the VA system along with other benefits you may be entitled to can be extremely overwhelming. We can be the bridge to get you connected with the following services:
- Enrollment in VA health care benefits
- Filing a military-related disability claim
- Connection to employment opportunities
- Using VA education benefits
- Using your VA home loan
- Connecting to state benefits and services
If you have any questions call 773-962-3740.
Our priority first and foremost is your safety. If you feel hopeless, suicidal, or are in crisis, let your counselor know so we can work together. We want to support you in the moment, and also create a safety plan with you to feel safer and more hopeful about the future.
You can also reach the Veteran Crisis Line via text at 838255 or through confidential chat on the website.
We understand that searching for resources can be challenging. Let us help you navigate through and connect with:
- How to activate VA medical benefits and enroll in care
- Where to file disability claims and other VA related forms
- How to make the most of your VA education benefits
- How to use your VA home loan
- How to access VA burial benefits
We can also assist in connecting you with a local Veteran Service Officer (VSO). Call us at 877-927-8387 to find out more information.
We serve our remote communities using VA Video Connect. Call us at 773-962-3740 to learn how we can complement your in-person care with virtual services.
We have Spanish-speaking staff members onsite. We recognize the important role family members play in your life. That’s why we welcome anyone you consider to be family to come in with you.
Conveniently located in your community, we proudly offer a variety of services designed to help you and your family navigate challenges, build meaningful connections, and develop tools to achieve success in both military and civilian life.
How we're different than a clinic (FAQs)
How we’re different than a clinic
What are Vet Centers?
Vet Centers are small, non-medical, counseling centers conveniently located in your community. They’re staffed by highly trained counselors and team members dedicated to seeing you through the challenges that come with managing life during and after the military.
Whether you come in for one-on-one counseling or to participate in a group session, at Vet Centers you can form social connections, try new things, and build a support system with people who understand you and want to help you succeed.
Who is eligible to receive services at Vet Centers?
Vet Center services are available to you at no cost, regardless of discharge character, and without you needing to be enrolled in VA health care or having a service-connected disability. If you’re a Veteran or service member, including members of the National Guard and Reserve, you can access our services if you:
- Served on active military duty in any combat theater or area of hostility
- Experienced military sexual trauma (regardless of gender or service era)
- Provided mortuary services or direct emergent medical care to treat the casualties of war while serving on active military duty
- Performed as a member of an unmanned aerial vehicle crew that provided direct support to operations in a combat theater or area of hostility
- Accessed care at a Vet Center prior to January 2, 2013, as a Vietnam-Era Veteran
- Served on active military duty in response to a national emergency or major disaster declared by the president, or under orders of the governor or chief executive of a state in response to a disaster or civil disorder in that state.
- Are a current or former member of the Coast Guard who participated in a drug interdiction operation, regardless of the location.
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Are a current member of the Reserve Components assigned to a military command in a drilling status, including active Reserves, who has a behavioral health condition or psychological trauma related to military service that adversely effects quality of life or adjustment to civilian life.
We encourage you to contact us, even if you’re unsure if you meet these criteria. If we can’t help you, we’ll find someone who will.
Our services are also available to family members when their participation would support the growth and goals of the Veteran or active-duty service member. If you consider them family, so do we. We also offer bereavement services to family members of Veterans who were receiving Vet Center services at the time of the Veteran’s death, and to the families of service members who died while serving on active duty.
Do I have to be enrolled in VA health care to access Vet Center services?
No. You don’t have to be enrolled in VA health care or have a service-connected disability.
What about my privacy?
Safe and confidential. Our records can’t be accessed by other VA offices, the DoD, military units, or other community networks and providers without your permission or unless required to avert a life-threatening situation. Here, you can be as open as you want—there’s absolutely no judgment.