Ms. Grais Meyer is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, The Academy of Certified Social Workers, The Mediation Council of Illinois, and The Academy of Family Mediators. She is on the Board of Dirctors of The Lilac Tree, a resource for women going through divorce.  Ms. Grais Meyer enjoys working with children, adolescents, adults and families with a variety of family and personal difficulties.

Dr. Michael Greenbaum, M.D. is a Board Certified Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatrist who has been practicing in Lake County since 1993.  Dr. Greenbaum attended medical school and completed his psychiatric residency at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago.  He trained in Child Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.  Dr. Greenbaum then returned to the Chicago area to practice child and adolescent psychiatry. 

Dr. Greenbaum specializes in working with children and adolescents.  He consults to several schools, and is the medical director at Connections Day School and South Campus School.  In addition to his outpatient psychiatric practice, Dr. Greenbaum is involved in psychiatric clinical trials of medications at Capstone Clinical Research in Libertyville, IL.  As a result of his research, he co-authored an article on Zoloft for a peer-reviewed journal.

Meghan L. Hasselberg, L.C.P.C., obtained her Masters of Arts degree in Human Development Counseling from Bradley University.  Ms. Hasselberg strives to create an environment where her clients feel relaxed, comfortable, and accepted.  Ms. Hasselberg has a wide range of professional experiences, including working in social service agencies, behavioral health hospitals, residential treatment centers, therapeutic day schools, and managed care settings.  Her experiences provide her with the ability to understand her clients in various contexts.

Ms. Hasselberg has a particular affinity towards working with children and adolescents utilizing different modalities of treatment including art, expressive, and play therapy.  She also has considerable experience working with substance abusing populations, both adolescent and adult. Through a cognitive behavioral approach, she attends to her clients through individual, family, and group therapy.  Ms. Hasselberg enjoys working with children with a variety of emotional and behavioral challenges.

Alan J. Heigert, M.S., L.C.P.C. holds a Master of Science degree in Counseling Psychology and is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Illinois.  He has worked with a wide range of clinical and professional issues since completing graduate school in 1972.  He has also completed the Family Institute of Chicago two-year certification program in marriage and family counseling.  Throughout his career, he has worked successfully with couples, families, and youth utilizing many treatment strategies. 

Mr. Heigert is well-known throughout Lake County for his service to the juvenile justice system and to the adult domestic violence and family courts.  He provides evaluations for the court system for both juveniles and adults.  He also is a member of the Lake County evaluators providing custody evaluations to the Lake County court system.  He has also consults with businesses and responds to acute crisis intervention needs.  Mr. Heigert continues to provide individual, couples, and family counseling.  Mr. Heigert’s commitment is to consistently and compassionately promote personality integration, effective communication, and nurturing relationships in whatever he does.

Wayne Hunter is a 1992 graduate of Trinity College (Bannockburn), with a B.A. in Interpersonal Communications.  In 1996 he graduated from the Adler School of  Professional Psychology with a M.A. in Counseling Psychology.  He then entered the doctoral program and is in the process of completing his Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Adler School of  Professional Psychology. Mr. Hunter has trained at Victory Memorial Hospital, the Lake County Circuit Court; Psychological Services Division, and the Depke Detention Center.  His areas of concentration include working with adolescents and their families, anger management groups, and psychological testing.

Mr. Hunter is a retired (23 years active service) law enforcement officer (Waukegan Police) with assignments to Illinois State Police and US Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration. He is an Adjunct Instructor at the College of Lake County.  He has acted as an expert witness in narcotics trafficking in the Northern District of Illinois, Northern District of Indiana, and Southern District of Florida..  Mr. Hunter is on the Board of Directors for the Independent Positive Living Under Supervision (I-PLUS)  

Betty Lindquist M.B.A. is the Practice Administrator of Counseling Connections and one of the founders of Connections Day School, South Campus, and New Connections Academy.  She began her career as a Juvenile Probation Officer in Lake County and formed Counseling Connections in 1983.  Ms. Lindquist was responsible for the development of a custody and visitation program for Lake County Family Court to assist families resolve those issues with professional support.  Currently she is responsible for the administration of Counseling Connections and their three schools serving over 240 students with emotional and behavioral issues.  Ms. Lindquist was also appointed to chair a taskforce to address issues of truancy in Lake County by the Lake County Juvenile Justice Counsel by Michael Waller.

Nicole N. Lis is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who joined Counseling Connections in October of 2006.  She has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Northern Illinois University, which she earned in 1998.  She later attended Loyola University Chicago, where she earned a Master of Social Work in 2003.  Within the same year, Nicole also co-authored a Praxis journal article on students with disabilities in higher education.

Nicole’s career has included a variety of experiences within the mental health profession.  She began working on the child and adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit as well as adult units at Forest Hospital in Des Plaines, followed by a position in the facility’s therapeutic day school.  She has also worked in a Substance Abuse program for male adolescents at Maryville Academy in Des Plaines.  The majority of Nicole’s career has been spent counseling within schools, spending the most recent years providing therapy for students at Cyd Lash Academy, an alternative high school serving adolescents with emotional and behavioral difficulties.  Nicole’s therapeutic interests lie in working with children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and working with relationship and family conflict issues.  Ms. Lis also enjoys working with stress and anger management issues of children and adolescents and working with those with a history of abuse and trauma.  She enjoys and has a great deal of experience working with children and adolescents with various emotional and behavioral difficulties.

Deborah Mabin, L.C.P.C., is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor.  Ms. Mabin received her Bachelor’s of Science and Masters of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology from Western Michigan University.  Ms. Mabin has worked in the counseling field for over 10 years.  Ms. Mabin has experience working with children of all ages and their families.

Ms. Mabin provides individual, group, family and couples counseling with various age populations.  She is experienced in crisis intervention and formally trained in personality and intellectual testing/assessment.  Prior to joining Counseling Connections, Ms. Mabin worked in school settings with children and adolescents.  She also has experience working in hospital and outpatient settings. 

Arlene Messner-Peters, L.C.S.W., is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 20 years of experience.  She is a graduate of National-Lewis University and the University of Illinois at Chicago.  Aside from her private practice, Ms. Messner-Peters has taught classes at the College of Lake County regarding families.  Ms. Messner-Peters specializes in working with high conflict families, domestic violence offenders, and clients with post traumatic stress disorder.  She is EMDR certified and works with traumatized children and adults through EMDR and other clinical methods.

Ms. Messner-Peters has experience working with the court system.  She has been conducting custody evaluations for over 10 years and is on the approved list of custody evaluators in Lake County.  Ms. Messner-Peters is also a trained mediator.  In this role she works with families of divorce to develop healthy parenting schedules and decrease the need for families to litigate parenting issues. 

Ms. Carolyn Nam, L.C.S.W. enjoys seeing her clients learn about themselves and utilize their inner strengths in order to heal and grow.  Working with both children and adults, Ms. Nam provides a warm, nurturing, and relaxed environment and uses a variety of methods including talk, play, and expressive therapies.  She feels especially rewarded working with children with attachment and adoption issues, grief and loss, developmental delays, and chronic and acute medical concerns.  Her professional experiences include working with children, adults, and families at a children’s hospital and through two foster care/adoption agencies.

Ms. Nam obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Northwestern University and a Masters Degree in clinical social work from the University of Chicago.  She continues to expand her knowledge about the profession in order to best serve her clients and regularly attends training seminars.  Ms. Nam primarily works with children, adolescents, and their families.  She especially enjoys working with younger children.  She has experience working with children with ADHD, depression, oppositional behaviors and developmental disorders.

Dr. Sol Rappaport, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and partner with Counseling Connections.  He has been in private practice for over 10 years and specializes in conducting psychological assessments for schools and the adult and juvenile court systems.  He is a trained mediator and conducts custody evaluations for the courts in Cook, Lake, and McHenry Counties.  Dr. Rappaport consults to several schools in Lake County; he provides psychological testing for schools as well as parents to determine if there are learning disabilities or emotional difficulties negatively impacting school performance.  Dr. Rappaport also conducts Risk Assessment evaluations for schools where students have made threats to harm others.  Dr. Rappaport conducts Fitness For Duty Evaluations for schools as well as police departments.

Dr. Rappaport has published a book on child sexual abuse as well as articles in professional journals and in a book.  He has conducted research on the impact of sexual abuse on children as well as problem solving skills in abused and nonabused children.    He has presented to professional groups (lawyers, psychologists, social workers) on a variety of topics including psychological testing, parental alienation, and various issues related to custody. 

Jessica Risker, L.P.C. is a licensed professional counselor. She received her Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She was a therapist in Highland Park High School and Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital, where she assessed and treated adolescents in both individual and group therapy. She has also worked at REST, a social services agency in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, where she provided social work and individual and group therapy for adults of all ages.

Jessica has worked with clients of all ages and cultural backgrounds. Her clinical interests include children and adolescents, women's issues, relationships, body image and wellness, eating disorders, depression, anxiety and anxiety-related disorders, life coaching, and mindfulness/present-moment awareness.  Jessica believes in holistic treatment of individuals and groups. Her counseling style is empathic, warm, encouraging, comfortable, supportive, non-judgmental, and motivating. Her therapeutic process helps people gain awareness of and gently change judgements, patterns of thinking, and perceptions which may be keeping them from fully attaining their goals. She works with people to recognize and utilize their strengths and creativity. She also enjoys helping people realize the richness, power, and creativity that is contained in the present moment.

Cori M. Schneider, L.C.S.W. earned her Masters degree in Social Work at Loyola University, Chicago in 1999. Ms. Schneider specializes in working with children, adolescents, and families.  Ms. Schneider works with clients from ranging from early childhood through adulthood.  She provides individual and family therapy with clients who are diagnosed with Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, as well as other social and familial issues. Ms. Schneider also provides consultation services to schools. 

Ms. Schneider, in conjunction with Ms. Anderson, teaches Family Rules, a parenting program designed to reduce parental stress and improve parenting skills.

Dr John Schuler, Psy.D. is a co-founder and partner of Counseling Connections. He has worked in the mental health field for over 35 years and has been a practicing Clinical Psychologist for the last 25 years. He works primarily with adults and couples with a wide range of emotional disorders and life stage conflicts. He specializes in supervising other health care professionals as well as working with executive stress issues, men’s issues, post traumatic stress and depression. His supportive ‘Narrative’ approach is a nonpathologizing, strength based and collaborative approach. 

Dr. Schuler has co-founded 3 therapeutic day schools for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral difficulties.  He supervises the clinical staff and has assisted in the program development of Connections’ Day School South Campus and New Connections Academy.  Dr. Schuler has presented to various groups on using Narrative Therapy.

Dr. Shazia Tayyab, M.D. is a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist.  She completed her Child and Adolescent Fellowship at Children’s Memorial Hospital where she was the Chief Resident.  Dr. Tayyab is Board Certified in General Psychiatry and Board Certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.  Her out patient practice specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of children and adolescents for a variety of psychiatric concerns.

Dr. Tayyabs' areas of interest include Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders, Bipolar Disorder and other Mood, Anxiety Disorders, and Asperger's and other Pervasive Development Disorders.  Dr. Tayyab regularly consults to schools and sees clients both in the Libertyville and Vernon Hills offices.