Christine Spuhler, MA, LCSW

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Clinical Specialties or Interests

A lot of my work is concerned with attachment and attachment trauma, including a lot of family origin and later-life traumas. That's my area of focus. One of the things that captivates me about it is simply that there's a lot of it. There's a lot of foundational attachment trauma that perhaps many of us weren't aware of or didn't interpret, so I'm interested in how to perhaps revisit or reinterpret those things and heal.

Why or how did you get interested and involved with counseling?

I grew up in a small town of 3,000 people in Wisconsin. It was a pretty homogeneous town, with a handful of minority populations. It was a nice place, but I also loved National Geographic, so I knew that the world was a lot bigger than my small town in Wisconsin and I couldn't wait to explore what else was out there. So in high school, I was a Rotary International Exchange Student. I was blessed with being placed with a family with 5 kids in Bolivia. That experience there completely changed my world, made me a better person, and helped guide me on this path. My host mom at the time was a major factor in my decision to become a social worker. She was awesome--I named my own daughter after her!

I do believe that everyone has something that they are trying to heal, whether we're conscious of it or not. I think that followed me into my professional life and contributed to me wanting to become a social worker. I also had a colleague that motivated me to follow in his path as one too.

Why have you remained passionate about counseling? What motivates you to continue each day? What keeps pulling you into it?

What keeps me going is that I myself have experienced such deep healing that I know it's possible for others too. It can be just one person who touches your life. It can be just one thing that someone says to another to strike a chord.

I've had clients over the years reach back out and tell me that I was so important in their learning and that they're doing great--that keeps me waking up and working each day.

Every life is valuable and sometimes the person with that life doesn't realize they're valuable until somebody helps them realize it--and that could be me! I know I won't be that person for everyone, because we're all different, but I try my best with those that I have the opportunity to work with.

How do you like to work with clients? How do you connect with them?

We are all similar, yet different in so many ways, so I like to follow the client's guide and see what speaks to them, what motivates them. Luckily I feel like I've had enough life experiences at this point that I feel like I can relate to almost anyone to a certain extent, so I just follow their guide. If they get stuck, I offer them a hint here and there, and continue to see where it goes.

Do you have a favorite wellness strategy that you use with clients?

It's different for everyone, but one of my mantras is less is more. When folks are struggling, particularly in our world today, there's so much that our brains have to take in all the time. And I don't think the human biology was made to cope with that many sensory triggers all the time, so disconnecting is very important.

In the beginning of the audio clip on the left, listen to Christine discuss how there's often this drive to be this perfect super-woman, super-man, super-mom, super-dad, super-husband, super-wife, etc. etc. But what if we stop and say, can we just simply be for a moment? Just be who we are and not have to have an extensive amount of goals and expectations that we have to constantly strive to achieve. Sometimes the body and the mind both need rest. So that's something that I try to help people understand. It's okay to just be.

The people who I've seen most relaxed and most capable are people who take significant time to just rest, relax, and chill. They give themselves the space to recharge. It's not always something we give ourselves permission to do, but we don't have to always be producing or creating or whatnot. We need to reset.

Success with clients

When I worked with the Rolling Meadows Police Department in their Community Policing Unit for a period, we did a summer Paint the Bus project. A bus transportation company brought community artists from the city out here to paint with the kids and paint the exterior of some buses. One of the children was struggling with father abandonment, growing up with a stepfather who he acknowledged was a good stepfather but who still was not "dad" and this child still felt challenges with abandonment. So at the time he was exploring the possibility of getting involved with a gang.

At 0:36 in the audio clip on the left, hear Christine explain this: As it turns out, I got a call from him 3 years after we worked together, when he told me: "I just want to let you know that I'm going to University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign on a full scholarship and I'm going to study engineering. Thank you so much for being there for me." I had no clue that I was that big of an impact because I was just there for a short time and it wasn't necessarily a weekly therapy relationship, but there was one person that made an impact on him and it was me. I hold that close in my heart.

In the context of counseling and your role, can you share any challenges that you've faced along the way and how you've managed them?

I think the challenge in our field is burnout and fatigue. Especially now with coronavirus and tons of technology use. The public has needed us therapists more, but the pandemic's isolation has required us not to be present physically for the community. I definitely prefer in-person experiences with clients and just people in general, so that has been a struggle throughout the pandemic. The online teletherapy sessions have worked out well for my clients who cannot come in for their sessions. I've still been able to create my craft through the computer. Despite initial struggle, it's come out a success.

What do you love about being a part of the YFC team? How would you describe YFC in a few words?

YFC has phenomenal leadership, administration, and clinical professionals. All of us are amazing in our fields. We are able to be genuine here at YFC and we all have the wellbeing of human beings at the foundation of what we do every day.

Where is your happy place?

It's usually with people that I have a long history with, not necessarily a specific location, but it tends to be places with brick roads, which usually is in Latin America or Europe. Sitting around a table, having a cup of coffee, and just being.

What's one thing people might be surprised to find out about you?

I did not learn to dance until I was in high school and I love dancing salsa. It's great to just be on the dance floor.

What's the last song that you listened to?

"Robarte un beso" by Carlos Vives & Sebastian Yatra. It's such a fun song!

What's your favorite must-see movie?

Cinema Paradiso. It's an old Italian movie with beautiful music. It's a story about a young boy who lost his father in WWII and he develops a relationship with the man who runs the local theater. It's about loss, grief, growing, and healing. It was the most moving movie I've ever watched.