Glenn Counseling Center offers integrative clinical therapeutic services for adolescents, young adults and families. Our clinicians work closely with various schools on the North Shore helping provide collaborative and wrap around support for students and families. We focus on children ages 5 through young adult and provide individual, group, and family therapy. We pride ourselves in our inclusiveness and our skills in working with individual and family trauma and crises.
Meet the team
Lisa
Owner, Founder, LCPC
🐓 Chicken owner x 12
🥽 Distance swimmer
🐶 Dog rescuer
Lisa Synnestvedt has over 20 years of experience working with adolescents and adults and specializes in working with teens, LGBTQ+ and trauma.
Lisa’s parents required their children to get a college degree. But at the time, Lisa’s passions were avoiding math and working with kids. Still, she was intrigued with human behaviors, relationships and brain development. Plus, her boyfriend’s mom (and soon to be mother-in-law) was a therapist in private practice, which piqued Lisa’s interest. She ended up getting her degree in psychology to check her parents’ college box.
After getting married and starting a family, Lisa worked as an elementary school tutor. Ironically, she taught math, cutting pizza to teach fractions or making root beer floats to learn measurements.
She later created and ran a high school youth program where students took trips in an RV to South Dakota to help on a working ranch, find creative ways to serve the community, and raise money for national disasters.
As a one-year substitute, she taught kindergarten in a small school. Lisa wasn't the most conventional teacher, but she and her students experienced kindergarten together! Whether following squirrels' footprints in the snow, making their own sledding hill, or making fairy houses, they stayed busy learning together.
Once Lisa’s kids were a little older and didn’t want to play all the time, she went back to get her master’s degree in mental health counseling. Unbelievably, she found a program with only one math class.
After she received her degree and licensure, she worked at a community mental health agency, which was extremely rewarding. It also led Lisa to where she wanted to end up: with a group practice that welcomes people to come as they are and experience the therapeutic process together.
Breanna
LCSW
🐱 Adores cats
🪴 Plant propagator
Breanna Traub is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) specializing in therapy of children, adolescents, young adults, and their families. Her clinical focus includes family and relationship issues, anxiety, depression, and navigating life transitions.
Additionally, Breanna has years of experience working with families and children of divorce/separation, and can help navigate this challenging process.
Breanna can also offer parent coaching sessions, in conjunction with therapy, to teach skills for parents to utilize not only for themselves, but to utilize with their child(ren) to support them through this transition.
In her work with children, Breanna utilizes play therapy techniques and open dialogue to encourage growth and overall emotional wellbeing. Breanna uses a strengths-based approach when working with clients, and focuses on helping clients help themselves through reflection, discussion, humor, and compassion. Breanna believes in working collaboratively with families and other professionals/schools to provide the best care to her clients.
Breanna has previous experience working at a local law firm as a social worker, and has built considerable knowledge of family law, especially regarding Guardian ad Litem work and complex family systems.
Breanna earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Breanna sees children 5 & up.
Christy
LPC
🍞 Makes amazing Baklava!
🌍 Backyard bird enthusiast
🛍️ Loves to knit
Christy is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) with a breadth of clinical interests and specialties. Her areas of focus include grief and loss, anxiety, depression, life transitions, relationship issues, and family systems work.
During her time at North Park University, she has gained experience in crisis intervention and facilitating therapeutic processing groups. Additionally, Christy has a certificate in couples and family counseling.
She received her bachelor’s degree from Cornell College and master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Northeastern Illinois University.
Christy is married and has three children. In her free time, Christy enjoys spending time with her family and two dogs, gardening, cooking, running, and reading. Clients describe Christy as being compassionate, relatable, and dedicated to her profession.
Emily
LCPC, CADC, BC-DMT
🐶 Shows dogs (in spare time)
Emily has enjoyed working in the counseling field for over 20 years and values using a positive psychology approach with her clients. She feels that therapy is a collaborative process – she will work on treatment goals with her patients that they define together!
Emily encourages her clients to trust their own process and engage in self-acceptance in order to promote a better sense of self-worth and lasting emotional/behavioral changes. She likes to integrate mindfulness to develop improved awareness of emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that contribute to improved coping and overall functioning. Emily feels that helping individuals develop insight into emotional and relationship patterns is a key part of the therapeutic process.
Her areas of expertise include anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD, ADHD, depression, personality disorders, substance use, and process addictions. She has the training and experience to work with individuals who are survivors of mind-control groups and abusive communities. Emily’s theoretical approaches include: positive psychology, movement therapy, substance abuse counseling (including harm-reduction approaches), cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based interventions, relational therapy.
Kate
MA, LCPC
🍿 Loves scary movies
🎧 Loves rap music
🔊 Speaks 'teenager' fluently
As someone who began her own therapy journey as a therapy-resistant teen, Kate believes that trusting, down-to-earth, and relatable relationships with her clients are the most important factor for instilling growth. It is through personal experience and innate passion for changing the narrative around mental health that Kate has fostered a strength to understand, connect with, and treat young people in crisis.
She specializes in working with Children (10 y.o.+), Adolescents, and Young Adults who are looking for support with anxiety, depression, trauma, mood disorders, school avoidance, family challenges, divorce, and more.
With clinical training from Northwestern University's The Family Institute, Kate has had experience in a variety of settings including a residential group home, inpatient hospital, and most recently at a therapeutic day school. She utilizes a warm and direct approach, and sessions include tangible strategies, supportive processing, movement, and mindfulness.
lynett
ATR, LCPC
👨👩👧👦 Family focused
🎨 Artist
🌍 Enjoys the outdoors
Lynett Kopec-Mohr is an Art Therapist (ATR) and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) with over 25 years of experience working in a therapeutic day school setting before joining the practice. She uses a person centered, strength based approach in an art studio atmosphere to support positive individual growth, empowerment and healing. Lynett encourages clients to trust their own process and allow the art to give voice to what words cannot. She values connection, collaboration and creativity.
Lynett specializes in working with children, adolescents, and young adults who are looking for support with anxiety, depression, trauma, mood disorders, school avoidance, family challenges, life transitions and more. She is an EMDR therapist in training, integrating this approach into her art therapy and counseling practice, along with mindfulness, positive coping strategies and self acceptance.
Lynett received a Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA) and art education certification (Type 10 K-12) from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, along with her Masters of Art in Art Therapy (MAAT).
jenna
lcsw
🐱 Cat Person
🎹 Live Music enthusiast
Jenna knew she wanted to be a social worker since she was 16 years old. As such, working with teenagers is her passion. She believes the relationship between clients and providers is a determining factor in the effectiveness of therapy. Jenna takes a realistic and relational approach to therapy, working to normalize the therapeutic experience.
You and Jenna might be a good match if you struggle with self harm or suicidal ideation, you like a more conversational approach to therapy, finding humor in difficult moments, and want to work on finding your best self.
Jenna received her Bachelor’s in social work from Carthage College and her Master’s in social work from Loyola University Chicago. Jenna has a background working in higher levels of care including partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs as well as inpatient psychiatric care.
jenny
LCPC
🏀 Sports lover
🎇 Proud Disney adult
🍞 Baking enthusiast
Jenny Keller is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) with over 15 years of experience in a variety of settings, including a public school, inpatient hospital, community mental health facility, residential group home, and most recently at a therapeutic day school.
Jenny values connection, listening, trust, and collaboration as pillars of a therapeutic relationship. She specializes in working with children, adolescents, and young adults who are looking for support with anxiety, depression, grief and loss, trauma, mood disorders, school avoidance, and more. Her approach is calm but direct, and she believes in being an authentic communicator (say what you mean, mean what you say).
Jenny received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Central Florida and her Master of Arts degree in Clinical Professional Psychology from Roosevelt University. Her interests in biofeedback have also led her to become certified in HeartMath interventions. She spends her extra time planning, booking, and dreaming of vacations for her family and friends and driving to and attending her two kids sporting activities.
Jen
Intern
📚 Loves to read
👚 Organizes her closet by color and asks herself each day “What color(s) do I want to wear today?”
Jen is a marriage and family therapist-in-training studying at The Family Institute at Northwestern University. Jen approaches therapy work with a systemic perspective acknowledging how we greatly affect one another in relationships and looking to respect and support every client in the system. Jen believes that in a therapy space that is validating, empathic, and collaborative between therapist and client, people can grow themselves and their relationships.
Before getting into the therapy profession, Jen worked as a librarian after receiving a Master’s in Library and Information Science. As a librarian, Jen learned to appreciate not only how information is organized and found in our world but also how to support and guide people sometimes overwhelmed in the research process. Wherever possible, Jen loves to recommend books that will be helpful to individuals, couples, and families outside of session, especially her favorite relationship book of all time, Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love by Dr. Sue Johnson. Of course, Jen also has a personal “to read” list that is way longer than what she will probably ever have time to read
Jen holds an undergraduate degree is in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois at Springfield where she spent many years respecting everything Abraham Lincoln and enjoying the food dish called the horseshoe (Google “horseshoe Springfield Illinois”).
Christa
Admin
🌴 Loves (and lived in) Hawaii
🐶 Mom to the office dog Roxy
Christa’s numerous interests and strengths make her an outstanding addition to the Glenn Counseling team. Aside from her infectiously fun energy, she is an organizational genius, student advocate and cheerleader who helps students reach success in their academic goals. Christa runs the school avoidance program (Back on Track) helping students prioritize assignments, build self-advocacy skills and stay connected to their schools while trying to manage the stressors that may be keeping them temporarily out of the school building. Her sincere confidence in the student’s success and her willingness to work on assignments with students (often found reading their assigned novels on weekends) has allowed dozens of students to get back on track with their academics while nurturing their mental health needs.
Christa loves to golf, she is a yogi, avid reader and proud German. She attended Albion College in Michigan and received her degrees in German and Economics. Her strong attachment to her awesome kids keeps her traveling to her favorite places, California and Hawaii where they are busy living their best young adult lives.