Joseph Cepeda

Joseph (Joe) Cepeda, LPC-Associate, is a child, adolescent, and family therapist at The Trinity Integrative Holistic Medicine & Counseling Services. He holds a bachelor's degree in exercise science and a master's in clinical mental health counseling from Northwestern University.

Joe sees counseling as both a science and an art. He sets a steady foundation and clear boundaries for the work, then stays flexible enough to welcome every version of the person in front of him. His main lens is psychodynamic: how attachment, early childhood experience, and unconscious patterns shape what a person feels and how they move through the world.

He comes to each session as a storyteller. Joe values evidence-based practice and psychological research, and he knows every client brings a story that deserves to be understood on its own terms. Rather than jumping to conclusions, he helps uncover the themes, strengths, challenges, and experiences that have shaped a life. His approach is eclectic, drawing on Adlerian, existential, multicultural, and narrative therapy as each person needs.

Creativity, curiosity, and honest self-expression matter to Joe. He believes there is real power in reconnecting with an inner child that expectations, perfectionism, or the pressures of life may have pushed aside.

Joe's role is not to tell anyone who to become. It is to make room to explore who they have been, who they are today, and who they want to be. In his words, "While we cannot rewrite the past, we can explore its meaning and begin to imagine and work towards what the next chapter might look like." Joe is supervised by Cristian Tovar, LPC-S, LCDC.