Betsy  Nettleton
Zencare Vetted

Betsy Nettleton

She/Her/Hers

Psychologist, PsyD Specialties Insurance & Fees Locations
Illinois, Alabama Not Accepting Online
Loop Waitlist In-person
Updated December 1, 2023

Specialties & Expertise

  • Anxiety
  • Attachment issues
  • Depression
  • Life transitions
  • Relationship issues
  • Sensitivity

Professional statement

Betsy Nettleton is a licensed psychologist in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Nettleton is passionate about working with individuals who are wanting to heal and grow from challenging life circumstances and troubling symptoms. She works from the assumption that clients have already tried a number of coping strategies prior to therapy and are now wanting a holistic and depth-oriented understanding of their emotional difficulties. She listens closely to both the conscious and unconscious communications embedded within clients’ narratives, helping them to gradually understand themselves in a deeper and more authentic way.

Dr. Nettleton is trained in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. She encourages clients to share their thoughts, feelings and physical sensations, and she offers nuanced feedback about these experiences. Dr. Nettleton helps her clients make use of the therapy relationship as a place to feel safe, seen and understood. She also uses the therapy relationship to help clients understand their difficulties within other relationships. She helps clients tolerate a wider range of emotional experiences and gain a deeper appreciation for their own idiosyncratic ways of being in the world.

Dr. Nettleton’s style is thoughtful and gently inquisitive. At a first session, she works to understand what a client is needing to share. She is aware that a first session is a uniquely vulnerable time, wherein a client is taking a leap of faith and not so certain that opening up feels safe. Throughout the course of therapy, she offers clients a way to use their own strengths to find the courage to grow and change.


Message to clients

Therapy is about coming to know your own mind, who and how you are, inside yourself and out in the world. We live in a world that privileges rational and conscious thought at the expense of unconscious processes. Often, people are frustrated that rational knowing or positive self-talk feels to be not enough. I help people connect the different aspects of themselves, and get to know the parts that have been hidden. Frequently, old ways of coping and problematic symptoms will fall away or diminish as we progress in our work together.

I’ve been in advanced psychoanalytic training since 2017, and I have over 17 years’ experience in helping people know themselves on a fundamental and authentic level. I work with people who are curious and introspective, and I create a calm and supportive environment where this introspection is possible.

I help people with a variety of symptoms, and see these not only for what they are (frustrating, painful, even debilitating) but also as representative of an underlying struggle in need of understanding. To paraphrase the existential analyst Rollo May, anxiety is a sign of a inner battle, just as fever is a sign of infection (a different kind of inner battle). I address both the symptom and the struggle, working with you to bring the latter into the light of day.


Specialties

Anxiety - Coping with excessive worry, nervousness, or stress; intense discomfort in social settings; sudden and intense feelings of panic; ruminative or obsessional thoughts

Attachment issues - Helping understand how early relational connections impact ways of connecting in the present, sorting through how and why relationships feel safe or more challenging

Depression - Providing support and promoting healing of hopelessness, low motivation and energy, sadness, irritability, sleep disturbance, and loss of interest and pleasure in life

Life transitions - Coping with difficult or impactful life changes, such as moving to a new area, relationship transitions, child rearing, or career changes

Relationship issues - Understanding one’s wants and needs in relationships (past and present); exploring patterns of interaction, making sense of important connections within the therapy relationship

Sensitivity - Developing an understanding of one’s sensitivity, including exploring what evokes intense emotional reactions; practicing self-compassion; working to make sense of reactivity




Clientele

  • Adults (24+)

Insurance

  • Blue Cross Blue Shield
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois PPO

Out-of-pocket fees

  • Individual sessions: $180 (55min)

Additional session information

Out-of-network billing options

This provider can support you in getting reimbursement from your insurance company if you are seeking out-of-network reimbursement. Here are the out-of-network billing options they provide:

  • Super billing
Payment options
  • PayPal
  • Zelle
Session frequency

Frequency of sessions this provider offers to see clients once you are an established client.

  • Weekly
  • Multiple times a week
  • As needed

Location(s)

Online Sessions (Illinois)
Not accepting new clients online
Currently Available Times
  • Morning (Before 10am)
  • Daytime (10am - 1pm)
  • Afternoon (1pm - 5pm)
  • Evening (After 5pm)
  • Weekends
Regular Hours
  • Mon mid/late morning to early evening
  • Tue mid/late morning to early evening
  • Wed mid/late morning to early evening
  • Thu mid/late morning to early evening
  • Fri mid/late morning to early evening
  • Sat n/a
  • Sun n/a

Loop practice
30 N Michigan , Suite 1204, Chicago, Illinois 60602
Accepting new clients with a 2 - 3 week wait in-person
Currently Available Times
  • Morning (Before 10am)
  • Daytime (10am - 1pm)
  • Afternoon (1pm - 5pm)
  • Evening (After 5pm)
  • Weekends
Regular Hours
  • Mon mid/late morning to early evening
  • Tue mid/late morning to early evening
  • Wed mid/late morning to early evening
  • Thu mid/late morning to early evening
  • Fri mid/late morning to early evening
  • Sat n/a
  • Sun n/a

Online Sessions (Alabama)
Not accepting new clients online
Currently Available Times
  • Morning (Before 10am)
  • Daytime (10am - 1pm)
  • Afternoon (1pm - 5pm)
  • Evening (After 5pm)
  • Weekends
Regular Hours
  • Mon Please inquire about hours
  • Tue Please inquire about hours
  • Wed Please inquire about hours
  • Thu Please inquire about hours
  • Fri Please inquire about hours
  • Sat Please inquire about hours
  • Sun Please inquire about hours

Work and Education

Years of Experience: 17 years

Private Practice, Licensed Clinical Psychologist, 2008 - Present
Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Training Candidate, 2017 - Present

Chicago School of Professional Psychology, PsyD - Doctor of Psychology, 2006
University of Minnesota, BS Biology, 1997


Licensure

Illinois: 071007496

Alabama: 14884


Languages

English