Experienced Child and Family Therapist – Private Pay.

Join Our Team: Experienced Child and Family Therapist – Private Pay.

Individual & Family Connection | Part to Full Time | Employee with Benefits

River Forest, IL

Bring your expertise. Find your clinical home.

Individual & Family Connection (IFC) is a group private practice in Bucktown and River Forest, IL, specializing in children, families, and young adults. Our signature approach, Through the Eyes of the Child, guides everything we do as we strive to see the world from the child's perspective.

Individual and Family Connection is a pediatric mental health community committed to developing exceptional child therapists and transforming the way children and families experience care. Through the power of play and connection, we help children thrive and empower caregivers with hope and support.

You've built your skills over years of meaningful work. Here, you'll keep doing the work you love, without the isolation and administrative weight, alongside colleagues who value what you bring. We're a community of passionate, imperfect, deeply committed healing professionals who invest in each other's growth as much as our clients'. If you're looking for a long-term clinical home where your experience matters, we'd love to meet you.

What Is IFC Premier?

IFC Premier is our private-pay and out-of-network therapy offering, connecting children and families with experienced clinicians who have advanced expertise and specialized areas of practice.

For therapists, it means higher earning potential and more freedom to make clinical decisions without many insurance-driven requirements around diagnosis, medical necessity, treatment frequency, and session length.

You also benefit from IFC’s referrals, administrative support, systems, and collaborative clinical community. Premier clinicians remain part of the IFC team and are expected to build and maintain a caseload.

This is the clearest distinction from the regular therapist roles. It does not promise special schedule flexibility or reduced caseload expectations.

What We Offer

• We take care of you so you can take care of your clients:
• Health insurance, dental, paid time off, and paid maternity leave
• Employer-matched retirement plan
• Paid CEUs and professional development
• Supervision toward Play Therapy Certification, if you're pursuing it
• Liability insurance covered
• Dedicated play therapy office with fully stocked supplies
• All admin handled for you: intake coordination, insurance verification, billing, and accounting
• User-friendly electronic medical records
• A collaborative peer community with ongoing case consultation
• Opportunities to share your expertise through mentoring, case consultation, or teaching

The Role

You'll carry a caseload of 15–25 contact hours weekly, providing individual and family psychotherapy to pediatric clients and young adults. As an experienced clinician, you'll also be a valued voice in our clinical community, bringing your perspective to case consultations and supporting the growth of the team around you.

We provide referral network access and administrative support, and we expect you to take initiative in building and maintaining a full caseload through internal referrals, community outreach, and client engagement.

Day-to-day, You'll

• Deliver individual and family psychotherapy, including complex and high-acuity cases
• Conduct thorough, empathic client assessments
• Develop and adapt treatment goals with clients and families
• Collaborate with schools, psychiatrists, and outside providers
• Provide parent coaching and behavior support
• Attend IEP meetings as needed (with parent consent)
• Contribute your clinical insight in staff meetings, case consultations, and supervision
• Maintain clear, consistent communication with families and referral sources

Who We're Looking For

You hold an independent clinical license in Illinois (LCSW, LCPC, LMFT, or PsyD, PhD.) and have [2+] years of post-licensure experience working with children and families.

You bring deep experience with pediatric clients (18 months to young adult) and presentations including anxiety, depression, trauma, attachment difficulties, ADHD, self-injury, and behavioral challenges. A trauma-informed, systemic lens and an anti-racist, anti-oppressive clinical framework are central to how we work.

Availability for evenings and a weekend shift is required.

Advanced training or certification is a strong plus, including any of the following: Theraplay, DDP, CPP, DBT, EMDR, TBRI, PCIT, ACT, Somatic Experiencing, Narrative Therapy, Synergetic Play Therapy, or RPT/RPT-S. Experience with LGBTQ+ affirmative practice and gender-expansive clients is also a plus.

A Note on Fit

We're looking for a seasoned clinician who wants a long-term clinical home and genuinely thrives as part of a team. The right person is confident in their expertise and still curious, finds energy in peer consultation, and sees personal growth and clinical growth as lifelong.

If you've worked on your own and found yourself missing colleagues, consultation, and shared purpose, this may be exactly what you're looking for. This likely isn't the right fit if you're planning to build your own solo practice or prefer to work independently without team accountability, and that's okay. We just want to be upfront so we both find the right match.

Ready to Apply?

We'd love to hear about your experience and your approach to working with children and families. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Not clinically licensed yet? We'd still love to meet you!

If you're working toward licensure and passionate about working with children and families, you may apply to our Chicago location here. You may apply to our River Forest location here.