About Empower Family Therapy
Empower Family Therapy started in 2018 as a home-based practice in Oak Park, founded by Tina Shrader, a licensed marriage and family therapist.
Tina's training is highly specialized, and it comes from a systemic view:
Everything is relational, and the problems we face are never isolated to just one person.
Early in her career, Tina looked for a practice in the area that worked this way and couldn't find one. Most local care was individual counseling. At community mental health, she mostly worked one-on-one with young adults and older adults. That work matters, but it wasn't the relational work she was trained to do.
Tina saw that no practice in the area specialized in relationship issues, so she started Empower Family Therapy to be that place.
Empower Family Therapy is where people dealing with relational struggles can find focused, specialized care. That's what we're known for, and that systemic approach is what sets us apart.
What makes Empower Family Therapy different.
Family-specialized, not just family-friendly
Our therapists have advanced training in family systems, child development, and relational dynamics. When things get complicated, we know how to work with the whole picture, not just one person's piece of it.
You're part of a bigger picture
We look at how age, culture, identity, and history shape the patterns your family is stuck in — not just the surface issue that brought you in.
Tools, not just talk
Every session is built to leave you with something you can use that same day — a skill, a script, a different way to respond next time things get tense.
Space for every age, every voice
Our offices are designed so kids and teens feel just as comfortable as the adults in the room — because real family therapy means everyone gets heard.
Start with a free 15-minute consult call.
Tell us what's going on. We'll match you with the right therapist,