open relationships
Benjamin Howard, MAEd, MACG, LPC (he/him)
Licensed Professional Counselor
Kink-Aware Professional
Specialties: I have a particular passion for working with LGBTQIA+ clients to address concerns related to stress management, trauma, anxiety and depression, career counseling, sex counseling, and consensual nonmonogamy.
Counseling Philosophy:
We all have needs. Sometimes they’re big, complicated needs like a feeling of belonging or sense of purpose. Sometimes needs are more basic like getting enough sleep or feeling safe where we live. Whenever we don’t get a need met, that creates unfinished business – needs that linger around. Too much unfinished business and we become fragmented, unable to effectively deal with our present because we’re so consumed about past needs or too worried about future ones. Using a foundation based on a combination of Gestalt Therapy, Feminist Therapy, and Solution Focused Brief Therapy, I help people define and address their needs.
Training & Background:
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor serving clients remotely throughout Illinois. With nearly a decade of experience working with a diverse range of students and clients ages 14 and up, I have served as a college educator, academic advisor and career coach since 2011 and a mental health practitioner since 2018. I earned my MA in Counseling & Guidance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and my MA in Education from the University of St. Mary.
About Me:
I’m a huge nerd! Outside of my counseling work, I spend a lot of my free time gaming with friends and family, reading or watching sci-fi, and getting lost down Wikipedia rabbit-trails. I’ve also become a big fan of history YouTube. Self-care is important, so I also take regular walks and aspire to flexibility by practicing yoga.
Disclaimer: All licensed services provided under the full professional and clinical control of Dr. Jeana Lucarelli, MA, PsyD.
Connected Roots is a unique and holistic therapy practice built upon the three pillars of:
CONNECTION • GROUNDING • CONFIDENCE
We help our clients to:
Cultivate a deeper connection with themselves and others
Identify and strengthen the roots that keep them grounded
Build confidence in their ability to cope with life’s stressors
Our passion for working with people who identify their relationship style as non-monogamous, polyamorous, and/or alternative stems from our own journey living as a polyamorous couple. We specialize in guiding couples through the process of opening up their previously monogamous relationship, as well as helping those already committed to non-monogamy navigate the ups and down that may occur through engagement in this lifestyle.
Working for over a decade with individual, couples, and poly-families in the Las Vegas valley. Specializing in the Kink, Lifestyle, Poly-Family, and LGBTQAI Communities.
There are few incidents more distressing than the experience of being judged and rejected by a health care professional we went to for help and understanding. Yet this is typical for those of us in alternative lifestyles and can leave us feeling even more hopeless and suspecting maybe we there is something wrong with who we are and what we do that seems so natural and sustaining in our world. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor, with 30 years experience in practice – experienced for even longer in alternative sexual lifestyles including BDSM, swinging and polyamory. I am well-versed in working with LGBT individuals as well.
My reputation is known in the alternative field for many years as one of the few therapists in my area (Philadelphia vicinity) to go to for help. While many people come to me through the grapevine or personal encounters, professional colleagues will refer individuals to me as my knowledge and experience in these areas is well known. I am empathetic and provide unconditional respect; however, I will not hesitate in being frank and direct with you when it would be of benefit.
In addition to understanding and collaborating with people who come to me for help, I am skilled in a wide range of therapies and, as you might expect, professional, while deeply unconventional. I strongly believe that therapy should productive and never be boring. My practice is holistic, creative, and results-oriented.
I help with many life-style problems, including communication and contracting, psycho-education, and general counseling. I also specialize in treating varieties of trauma, anxiety disorders, grief, emotional regulation, and self-esteem issues. The therapies I use include various forms of cognitive-behavioral therapies, Mindfulness, Solution-Focused Therapy, Ericksonian Hypnosis, Emotional Freedom Therapy, EMDR, and traditional methods drawn from the shamanistic/spiritual/magical healing practices of other cultures and systems.
Counseling partners can become a primary focus at times, e.g., dealing with the negative reaction of the more straight member, or problems in an alternative relationship(s). However, I will not meet with anyone who is being forced to attend a session (we all know the keystone word: “consensual”). Ultimately, the best way to decide is to talk with me on the phone, and if you feel encouraged, meet with me to see whether there is a fit.
Research has consistently shown that the connection between the individual and the counselor plays the strongest role in therapeutic outcomes. While I do not take insurance for ethical, business, as well as confidential reasons, my sessions are 2 hours and reasonably priced. However, in many cases I can supply receipts which will result in some reimbursement from your insurance company or flex account.
Do you feel there’s something missing in your relationship, but don’t know where to start in rebuilding your connection? Have you tried to talk to your partner about the issues between you, but feel discouraged in finding answers that bring real and lasting change?
Relationships can become complicated over time as communication breaks down, and arguments become filled with defensiveness and unresolved anger. Whether you find yourselves arguing the same points over and over again, or shutting down and saying nothing out of defeat, you may feel like you’re getting nowhere in improving your overall life together.
Discovering your particular relationship ‘ruts’ can be the beginning to finding common ground and healing the conflicts between you. I can help. Together, we can address issues such as lost intimacy and love, broken trust, infidelity, ineffective communication, imbalance of time together and space apart, boredom, codependency, or issues specific to alternative lifestyles.
I’m a licensed professional counselor and AASECT certified sex therapist specializing in BDSM, kink, polyamory, non-monogamy, sex work, and other alternative lifestyles.
Psychotherapy can and does work.
Counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals (ACA, 2010). At Renew, we want to empower you with the tools to . . .
- find happiness and fulfillment
- uncover habitual patterns and create a positive path
- create a new vision with new options
- find balance in a life that is constantly changing
- unlock creativity
- access your own inner guide
- heal from the inside out
- grow into your full potential
Our counseling services are offered from our office or by Telehealth appointments.
SERVICES:
Behavioral Health Therapy
Behavioral therapy is an umbrella term for types of therapy that treat mental health issues and disorders. This form of therapy seeks to identify and help change potentially self-destructive or unhealthy behaviors. individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health. Such persons may help individuals deal with issues associated with addiction and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; and aging.
- Mood Disorders
- Anxiety
- ADHD
- Adjustment Disorders
- Trauma Reprocessing
- Stress Management
- Therapeutic Yoga/Mindfulness
Life Coaching
Life Coaching h is a type of wellness professional who helps people make progress in their lives in order to attain greater fulfillment. Life coaches aid their clients in improving their relationships, careers, and day-to-day lives. Life coaches can help you clarify your goals, identify the obstacles holding you back, and then come up with strategies for overcoming each obstacle. In creating these strategies, life coaches target your unique skills and gifts. By helping you to make the most of your strengths, life coaches provide the support you need to achieve long-lasting change.
- Business, executive, and leadership coaching
- Career coaching
- Dating and relationship coaching
- Diet and fitness coaching
- Divorce coaching
- Family life coaching
- Financial coaching
- Health and wellness coaching
- Life skills coaching
- Mental health coaching
- Spirituality coaching
- Mindfulness
Integrative Health Coaching & Integrative Medicine
Integrative Health Coaching (IHC) empowers you to make lasting health behavior changes for your lifelong well-being. It bridges the gap between medical recommendations and your abilities to successfully implement those recommendations into your complex life. Integrative health puts the patient or client at the center of the care and addresses the full range of physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental influences that affect a person’s health. Integrative Medicine (IM) is healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapies.
What does Integrative Health Coaching look like?
- Integrative health coaches work with the whole person, taking time to listen to your concerns, and asking powerful questions to help motivate you to make changes.
- Coaching helps facilitate behavior change in a structured, supportive partnership between you and your coach.
- Coaches can help you to identify obstacles to change and create strategies for forward movement.
- Coaches provide additional resources for making healthy behavior changes.
- Sessions can take place via the following: virtual, telephone, or in person.
- Teaching and improving coping skills with life’s ups and downs.
Sexual Health Education & Coaching
Sex education is teaching and training about a range of topics related to human sexuality and sexual health. These can include sexual and reproductive anatomy and physiology, contraception, sexually transmitted infections, sexual pleasure, sexuality across cultures, relationships, intimacy and many others. Providing information, advice and counseling to patients diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) plays a pivotal role in helping the patient understand and manage their sexual health without stigma attached. Sex coaching is the marriage of sexology – the scientific study of what people do sexually and how they think and feel about it, and coaching – a person-centred modality geared toward creating results in clients’ lives. Sexual health education and coaching service may look like community outreach and education, groups, partnership or one-on-one client sessions.
Who can benefit from Integrative & Sexual Health Coaching?
ANYONE! EVERYONE!
Clinician
Erin Wallis, CSC, IHC
Erin Wallis is an Integrative Health Clinician, Coach and Skills Trainer, with a diverse educational background and certifications in allied health, early childhood education, special education, health and human services, advocacy, and human sexuality. Erin has worked in residential, hospital, educational and clinical settings. Erin conducts various support groups, skill based groups (such as dialectical behavioral therapy) and educational groups. Erin will walk with you on your unique journey to health and well-being, providing comprehensive, inclusive care.
When working with Erin you will be provided a safe, confidential space. Erin is a trained Culturally Responsive, LGBTQ+ Affirming, and Kink-Aware Professional.
Get Well * Be Well * Stay Well