About Dr. Brittany Sievers

I’m Brittany Sievers, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist providing online therapy for individuals and couples in Illinois, Texas, and PSYPACT states.

My work focuses on helping people understand the emotional and relational patterns shaping their lives — especially when communication skills coaching and all the self help book insight alone hasn’t been enough to create change.

I’m drawn to work that is honest, emotionally engaged, and brings humor to the heaviness that our life histories can sometimes hold. Therapy with me is not passive. I listen carefully, ask direct questions, and help interrupt patterns that keep people stuck so new ways of relating can emerge.

I pride myself on the fact that humor and relatability are essential to our work together. We will take our work seriously but we won’t take ourselves too seriously.

Who I Work With

I work with individuals and couples who:

  • feel overwhelmed by recurring conflict or emotional distance

  • grew up around emotional unpredictability, substance use, or difficult family dynamics

  • find themselves overextending, shutting down, or reacting in ways they later regret

  • feel shame about struggling in their relationships despite trying hard to “get it right”

  • want deeper emotional connection, not just better communication

  • are trying to build something healthier than what they experienced growing up

Many clients don’t necessarily know how to describe their past. It is simply complicated or there is a lot of gray area so they don’t necessarily know if it is “traumatic” or not. But they know their early experiences shaped how they relate, trust, and handle conflict today.

I provide couples therapy, individual therapy, and support for life experiences impacted by substance use, trauma-related relationship patterns, and emotionally overwhelming relationship dynamics.

My Approach

I believe relationship struggles rarely exist in isolation. They develop through lived experiences — early environments, emotional learning, cultural expectations, and the ways people learned to cope when connection felt uncertain or overwhelming.

My work focuses on helping people understand what is happening beneath conflict, distance, and reactive patterns so change becomes possible at a deeper level.

I take an active role in therapy. I help slow conversations down, notice patterns in real time, and guide clients toward new emotional experiences rather than simply discussing problems.

My approach integrates:

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples

  • trauma-informed care

  • evidence-based treatment for substance use

  • harm reduction and Motivational Interviewing

  • a social-contextual framework that considers identity, culture, and power dynamics

This means we look not only at individual behavior, but also at how relationships are shaped by broader experiences and social context.

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Training and Professional Background

My clinical work has been shaped by experience in residential and outpatient treatment programs, college counseling centers, group practice, and the Veterans Health Administration in Illinois. Across these settings, I’ve worked with individuals and couples navigating trauma, substance use, and emotionally complex relationship dynamics.

I began clinical training in 2015 and have continued to deepen my work in couples therapy, trauma treatment, and substance use intervention. This experience allows me to stay steady in high-intensity emotional work while helping clients make meaningful, lasting changes.

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The Details

    • Certified externship in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for Couples

    • Advanced coursework and live supervision in EFT for Couples

    • Level 1 Training in Relational Life Therapy (Terry Real)

    • Certified in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Substance Use Disorders

    • Training in Motivational Interviewing and harm reduction approaches

    • Two-year postdoctoral fellowship in trauma psychology

  • Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Illinois (071.010909)
    Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Texas (39808)
    PsyPact License (18507)

    Postdoctoral Fellowship in Trauma Psychology, Chicago, IL (2022)
    APA-Accredited Predoctoral Internship,
    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Counseling Center (2020)
    PhD in Counseling Psychology,
    Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2020)
    Graduate Certificate in Substance Use Counseling,
    University of Illinois Springfield (2015)

  • Veterans Health Administration

    University Counseling Centers

    Residential & Outpatient Substance Use Treatment

    Group Practice

What Makes My Work Different

Many clients come to me after trying other forms of therapy that focused primarily on communication skills or surface-level solutions.

My work focuses on the deeper emotional patterns and old relationship history that drives conflict, distance, and recurring relationship struggles. I help identify these patterns in real time and guide new ways of relating so change happens within the session — not just in theory.

This work is emotionally engaged, direct, and focused on meaningful change rather than symptom management alone.

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