Counseling for adults age 65 and older
Older Adult Counseling in Oak Brook
Older adulthood can include meaningful freedom and connection as well as loss, uncertainty, changing roles, relationship concerns, or questions about what comes next. Counseling should respond to the person's actual priorities rather than treating age itself as the problem.
Counseling shaped by the person, not an age stereotype
Two people of the same age may want entirely different things from counseling. One may be adjusting to retirement, another grieving a loss, another managing anxiety or low mood, and another navigating a family relationship. The first sessions should clarify what is most important now, what has changed, and what kind of therapeutic style feels workable.
This service is mental health counseling rather than geriatric medicine, dementia treatment, neuropsychological testing, or caregiver case management.
Reasons older adults may seek counseling
Anxiety, depression, and stress
Candida and Ava both work with anxiety, depression, and stress. Counseling may focus on daily patterns, coping, confidence, emotional resilience, or changes affecting mood and routines.
Grief, relationships, and change
Both clinicians explicitly work with grief and loss. Their profiles also support relationship difficulty and life transitions. Counseling can make room for the complexity of loss without imposing a timeline.
Retirement and changing roles
Candida works with retirement and career change among other life transitions. Retirement can affect routine, identity, relationships, purpose, or finances, but it is not assumed to be difficult for every older adult.
Meet Candida Jacoby and Ava Blalark
Candida Jacoby, LCSW, works with adolescents, adults, and older adults. Her focus includes stress, coping skills, self-esteem, anxiety, depression and emotional resilience, grief, relationships, and transitions such as retirement. Ava Blalark, LCSW, works with children, adolescents, adults, and older adults, with experience in anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relational distress, life transitions, and stress.
Approaches they use
Candida uses strength-based and person-centered work, CBT, mindfulness, and meditation within a whole-person perspective. Ava uses CBT and strengths-based work. The intake team can help a prospective client compare these approaches without suggesting that age determines one preferred method.
Access, format, and family questions
The Oak Brook office is at 1010 Jorie Boulevard, Suite 112. Ask intake about current accessibility details, scheduling, and whether Candida or Ava currently offers an appropriate virtual option. This local page does not make a statewide telehealth claim. An older adult may include a family member in an intake discussion when desired and legally appropriate, but the adult client remains central to consent and privacy decisions.
Before you reach out
Insurance
We work with several insurance and employee assistance (EAP) plans. Participation can vary by clinician, and benefits and eligibility should be verified.
Insurance and feesFees
- Initial intake or evaluation$250
- Individual psychotherapy$200
Sliding-scale availability can be discussed through intake. If cost is a concern, please tell our intake team and we will talk through your options honestly.
What happens next
- 01Reach out to our intake team
- 02Get thoughtfully matched
- 03Plan your first appointment
Finding the right therapist
We take matching seriously. The right fit between client and therapist matters, so our intake process is designed to understand your needs before suggesting someone.
Therapists for this concern
Frequently asked questions
Which therapists explicitly work with older adults?
Can counseling address retirement?
Does this service include dementia testing or geriatric medical care?
Can a family member help with the first call?
Find an older-adult counselor who fits
Tell intake what you want to address, whether you prefer Candida or Ava, and any scheduling, accessibility, or session-format questions.
Request a consultation