Erica Fada

Therapist

Erica Fada, LSW, CADC (she/they) is a social worker with her Master’s in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago. They view therapy as a relational practice and strive to create a space for their clients to feel uplifted and emboldened in their experiences. Erica specializes in a harm-reduction approach to substance abuse, work with LGBTQ+ clients, and the intersection of the two. The Neurosequential Network acknowledges that Erica Fada has completed NMT Training Certification through the Phase I level.

Erica has experience working with adolescent and adult clients in crisis intervention and navigating legal and interpersonal impacts of substance use addiction. Erica centers her therapeutic practice in feminist empowerment theory, while integrating elements of narrative therapies and behavioral interventions. This means that Erica sees clients as the experts in their own experiences, and enjoys helping clients see the sources of resilience, agency, and support they already have in their lives, and build from there. Additionally, Erica has a neurobiological understanding of the ways trauma can affect the body and brain. She recognizes that therapy is an individual and personal journey for the client, and views collaboration around treatment goals to be essential.

Erica acknowledges the power dynamics at play in the therapeutic relationship as well as the history of harm in mental healthcare, specifically against queer and BIPOC individuals. She understands that the process of engaging with therapy is a vulnerable one. In order to help facilitate a space for deep self-exploration, Erica prioritizes creating an environment that is queer-, trans-, kink- and non-monogamous-affirming, and they believe that no identity should feel like an unwelcome topic in the therapy room.

In addition to the MSW, Erica also completed a Master of Arts in Women’s and Gender Studies at Loyola. In her free time, Erica enjoys planning the next bioactive vivarium for one of her reptiles, tending to their houseplants, and trying out new sushi restaurants with their partner.

You can reach Erica by email at erica@headhearttherapy.com