Lucas Somma
Lucas Somma
Personal Statement

The earliest practitioners of psychology used the word “psyche” to label the fascinating, lively, wounded, and resilient inner-worlds of their patients. People often use “psyche” when referring to someone’s mind, with such sub-categories as thoughts, beliefs, and memories. Yet, to the founders of counseling psychology, “psyche” was synonymous with soul. In their minds, and in mine, to be a psychotherapist is to be someone endlessly delighted to work in the domain of the soul. I provide psychotherapy with the perspective that though unwanted behaviors persist, negative thoughts prevail over our minds, and emotions prove too unruly to control, the soul—the deepest part of us—is dynamic and yearning for growth.

The underrecognized truth and hidden beauty of psychotherapy is that it is essentially a conversation. Two humans sit across from each other, one generally is heard and the other generally hears. And the miraculous unfold in this profoundly human and elegantly simple interaction. This is because healing is not a commodity and therapy is not an elixir. Rather, I’m trained to listen deeply, remain infinitely curious, and co-create an authentic connection.
Somewhere in this process, the Divine shows up to sit with us in our brokenness and bring to light the ways in which healing is happening both beneath our noses and with our co-participation

Originally from New England, I live on the west side of Chicago in Little Village. I’m opinionated about pizza (Connecticut objectively has the best pizza on the planet), spend most of my free time playing chess, and have an overwhelming affection for harbor towns and my ‘99 Camry. In addition to completing my M.A. and clinical internship, I’m also a case manager working with ESL students in the immigrant, refugee, and asylee community of Uptown.

lucas2
Counseling Intern

Treatment Areas and Competencies

Anxiety

Crisis Intervention

Divorce & Seperation

LGBTQ+

Career & Vocation

Relationship & Marital Issues

Spiritual Abuse & Religious Trauma

Deconstructing & Faith Identity Change

Codependency & Insecure Attachment

Approach to Therapy

My clinical approach is summed up by four key beliefs:
● Our important relationships—especially relationships with our families of origin—provide templates by which we engage reality. If we wish to change, we can do so in new relationships. First and foremost, the counseling space is where an authentic, warm, and trusting relationship is built.
● No one is an island. We exist in a variety of larger contexts. To understand someone, we must understand the larger contexts in which they participate. I work with my clients to consider and change their roles in those contexts.
● We have a unique, often unrecognized, freedom to choose new ways of living. As Viktor Frankl puts it, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” I empower my clients to recognize and steward the freedom they possess.
● Christ is presently and actively redeeming the entirety of the cosmos, which includes our individual stories. I propose that though we find ourselves wounded by formative relationships, embedded in corrupted systems, and disoriented by the freedom we possess, the primordial story that undergirds all other stories is ultimately one of resurrection: suffering is a given, but Christ is unwaveringly pulling broken stories towards wholeness, peace—Himself.

Treatment Modalities and Theoretical Orientations

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Narrative Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Existentialist Psychotherapy

Spiritually Integrated Therapy

Intersubjective Psychoanalytic Theories

Systems Theory

Education, Licenses and Certifications

  • Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, North Park University (in
    progress).    
              
  • Bachelor of Arts in Human Services, Moody Bible Institute
  • Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts & Science: Behavioral Science emphasis, Naugatuck
    Valley Community College

 

  • Certificate in Narrative Practice, Dulwich Centre (in progress)         
  • Certificate in Mental Health First Aid, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
  • Certificate in Youth Mental Health First Aid, National Council for Mental Wellbeing

 

Contact Lucas

Meet

53 W. Jackson, suite 1615 Chicago 60604

Call

(203) 233-4048

Email

lucas@pneumachicago.com