About us

Why us

With locations in Chicago and Glen Ellyn, we are an evolving collective of mental health professionals who have committed to the pursuit of personal and systemic growth on every level of our society. Our practice began as a friendship and has continued to grow as we have built associations with highly competent, seasoned and relationally oriented therapists.



We have become a vibrant community, with a broad base of clinical expertise. However, we remain small enough to be accessible and responsive to each individual we support. Our practice is effective, innovative and totally down to earth.

The client and our relationship with them is the central focus of treatment. Our clinical expertise and relational approach work in harmony to provide an ideal foundation for exploring a co-constructed, mutual process of growth. 

The ability to enter into and understand another's experience is the foundation of all effective therapeutic process. Empathy is a therapist's primary instrument.

Our approach

As a group, and as individual therapists, we work hard to be the best at what we do. This means focusing time, energy and resources on developing our skill sets, knowledge base and ourselves. While we depend heavily on our training and skill, we believe it is the relationship between the therapist and client that drives successful outcomes. When we join together with our clients in the therapeutic process, we expect a genuine connection to emerge. It is this connection that makes exploration and growth possible.

Our philosophy

These are the core therapeutic values that we embrace.

  • Relationships

    We believe that people grow when they have at least one healing relationship and hopefully more.  We do our best to carefully attune and respond to our clients and to welcome their complex emotions into our work together.


  • The Person of the Therapist

    We, as therapists, are committed to our own growth as people.  We recognize that our honesty and authenticity and our clinical competence are intertwined.  We understand that being trustworthy is the soil from which all growth comes, and while we may make mistakes or misunderstand, we seek to own our shortcomings and learn from them. We commit to being genuine, authentic people.  Carl Rogers called this honesty, “congruence”, which he saw as one of the most important qualities in a therapist.

  • Empathy

    Empathy is the first goal of every therapeutic hour. It is our primary instrument, helping us enter into and understand our clients’ experience. Any load is lighter when it is not carried alone. When another is with us in our experience, we are able to process our emotions and make sense of our responses. Thus, unmanageable feelings soften, inner conflicts subside and new ways to understand and work with suffering begin to emerge.

  • Process

    We understand that people enter therapy with goals to feel better and be better that are very important to them.  As the process unfolds, goals may change and deepen according to new awareness brought forth in the therapeutic relationship.  We have learned that, as therapists, being in each moment with our clients yields the most healing and growth. Therefore, we have come to trust that goals are met, and sometimes surpassed, as we remain present in this process.


  • Clinical excellence

    Our energy for our work and our skillfulness is directly tied to our commitment to our individual growth and to the sharpening we give and receive as members of a clinical community.  We are committed to helping each other grow and supporting one another as we enter new spaces with our clients.  This involves practicing what we call “attachment living”.


  • Attachment living definition

    Attachment living refers to the practice of cultivating relational strategies that are healthy, adaptive and safe. We do our best to live out what we seek to impart to our clients.  We understand that personal growth and healing is connected to relational growth and communal richness.  It is our faith in this process and our commitment to it that makes us unique in what we do.


Our story

  • Read our story

    GROW was originally a collaboration between two friends. Chad Alcorn and Seth Allison met in 2002 over coffee in downtown Wheaton. The conversation quickly turned from the practice of psychology to shared interests in music, philosophy, and clinical theory. By the end of the dialogue that day, Chad and Seth had begun exploring the idea of starting a practice that would integrate their common values and interests.




    The following year, both participated in a post graduate certificate program at the Center for Religion and Psychotherapy in Chicago—a program tailored towards the integration of psychodynamic psychology and spirituality. Through their respective practices, Chad and Seth examined the integration of various theories and modalities, refining their approaches to psychotherapy. 




    A mutual vision continued to emerge while ideas were shared in between blues sets and basketball games. After several years of ongoing debate and dialogue, they agreed that with a deepening sense of connection to the community, a tested level of clinical competency, and the support of family, friends and colleagues, it was time to move forward.




    Alcorn and Allison, Clinical Associates opened its doors in October of 2006. The office, perched on the Northwest corner of Main St. and Crescent Blvd, looked south, over downtown Glen Ellyn. The space was warm and welcoming and in lieu of having their own band, Chad and Seth made sure the walls were decorated with album covers and the waiting room had a good stereo.




    As the practice began to thrive, they sought to build associations with highly competent, seasoned, and relationally oriented therapists with diverse backgrounds and specialties. By partnering with a few uniquely gifted clinicians, A&A became a vibrant group practice with a broad base of clinical experience that is still small enough to be accessible and responsive to the community it serves. 




    After 17 years, Alcorn and Allison decided to open to a more ambitious project. We believe that our culture is at a crucial tipping point and that the opportunity for our field to have a broader impact on the world has never been more apparent. So, Chad and Seth decided to take their names off the door and go all in on building a therapeutic community of like-minded therapists that are committed to their own growth as people and professionals. 




    Grow believes that in walking the walk, we are better equipped to serve individuals, families, communities, and systems in their efforts to open to healing, change, and growth! Based on an enduring friendship, rooted in Attachment Theory, and committed to mutuality, GROW has become a leader in the age of Relational Healing.


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