Meagan Restaino, LCPC, NCC, CADC, PCGC

About Me

I’m a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor offering therapy that is warm, direct, and deeply human. I believe therapy works best when it’s collaborative, honest, and grounded in real conversation.

This isn’t a stiff, clinical space. Swearing is welcome, humor has a place when it helps, and you never have to clean up your story before bringing it into the room.

A few things that matter to me:

Warm, honest, human conversation
A calm space with room to slow down
Therapy with structure and intention
Humor that supports healing (not avoidance)
Respect for privacy and dignity

Therapy here is meant to feel human, steady, and honest.

My Approach

My approach blends evidence-based therapy with calm, clear guidance. I value depth, curiosity, and balance, and I focus on helping clients build insight, steadiness, and self-trust over time.

Therapy here is not crisis-driven or open-ended without direction. It’s intentional work designed to support meaningful change at a pace that respects your nervous system and your real life.

Therapy here is:

Collaborative and active
Grounded, steady, and supportive
Insightful, but also practical
Focused on patterns and real-life change
Not crisis-driven or open-ended without direction

I’ve been working in the mental health field since 2012, with experience across community mental health, outpatient therapy, and private practice settings. Over the past decade, I’ve provided individual and couples therapy to adults navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, addiction recovery, relationship challenges, grief, and major life transitions.

My work has included supporting clients in both short-term and long-term therapy, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, and serving in clinical leadership and supervisory roles. Throughout my career, I’ve focused on developing a style that is warm, direct, relational, and grounded in real-life change.

My approach is trauma-informed and integrative, drawing from attachment-based, relational, person-centered, psychodynamic, and trauma-focused models. I often use metaphors, creative interventions, and everyday language to help complex emotional experiences feel more understandable and workable. Therapy with me is thoughtful and deep, but it can also include humor, imagination, and moments of lightness when appropriate.

Background

A Quick Vibe Check

By nature, I’m a little whimsical and deeply drawn to cozy, calming environments. I love animals, houseplants, cooking, singing, video games, and spending time in nature. I’m especially drawn to ocean life, which is part of the inspiration behind the Stillwater Cove name and theme. Water has always felt grounding, steady, and quietly powerful to me, and that’s the kind of space I aim to create in therapy.

I also enjoy photography and noticing the small, peaceful details in everyday life. Those parts of me naturally shape the atmosphere I bring into the therapy room.

If you’re looking for a space that feels warm, grounded, and human, where you can slow down, be real, and maybe even laugh once in a while, you’ll probably feel at home here.

Education

Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology, Clinical Mental Health Specialization
Adler School of Professional Psychology
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Addictions Counselor Certification (CADC track)
College of DuPage Illinois Certification Board
Problem and Compulsive Gambling Counselor (PCGC)
Illinois Certification Board Completed under the supervision of one of the first PCGC-certified clinicians in the state of Illinois
Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC)
National Board for Certified Counselors
Member, Illinois Counseling Association (ICA)

Who I’m a Good Fit For

I work best with adults who are thoughtful, self-aware, and motivated to engage in therapy. Many of my clients are high-functioning on the outside but privately feel overwhelmed, exhausted, or stuck.

If you’re looking for a collaborative space with honest feedback, structure, and room for reflection, this practice may be a good fit.

This work is a strong fit if you are:

thoughtful and self-aware
motivated to engage actively
open to gentle accountability
wanting therapy that creates movement and change

Who I May Not Be a Fit For

My practice is not designed for clients in acute crisis or those needing a higher level of care. I also do not offer therapy for high-conflict or emotionally unsafe couples.

If I’m not the right fit, I’m always willing to help guide you toward resources or referrals that may better meet your needs.

This may not be the right fit if: