The Practitioner
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Whether you're navigating loss or simply trying to find your footing, therapy can be a place to slow down, make sense of your experiences, and move toward a life that feels more connected and affirming.
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My name is Iliana Espinosa-Ravi (she/her/ella), MSW, MPH, LCSW, CT.
I’m the proud daughter of a Mexican immigrant whose name means comfort and a religious pluralist, peace-and-justice pastor. I was named after a sibling who briefly lived and am inspired by my bisabuela, a local healer in her community. I’m a biracial, Spanglish-speaking, flora and fauna-loving, Midwesterner from the working class, therapist, social worker, grief tender, and owner of La Cigarra Counseling. I’m also someone who has navigated my own mental and emotional struggles. It is a genuine privilege to accompany others as they navigate theirs.
I provide liberation-oriented, relational, person-centered therapy to teens and adults of all identities and backgrounds, as well as clinical supervision to students and emerging practitioners. For the past 15 years, I have been dedicated to community care and emotional witnessing. I earned my Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Illinois Chicago in 2016, followed by a Master of Public Health (MPH) in 2017. I became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Illinois in 2021 and earned my Certified Thanatologist (CT) credential through the Association for Death Education and Counseling in 2025. Also, in 2025, I began training as a narrative therapist. I'm interested in the stories we find ourselves beholden to—the ones we've forgotten, the ones we've inherited without question, and the narratives we have yet to discover.
Life inevitably presents us with many challenges that shape our relationships, our sense of self, and the ways we move through the world. People seek therapy for many different reasons, but one of the most common reasons people find their way to my practice is grief.
Grief is an unavoidable and often daunting part of being human. We encounter it many times throughout our lives because life itself is full of transitions, loss, and growth. Yet few of us are prepared for the ways grief can affect our bodies, spirits, relationships, and sense of identity. It can alter how we understand ourselves and how we imagine the future. While not everyone experiencing grief needs therapy, for those who are open to it, counseling can offer a compassionate, nonjudgmental space to process difficult experiences, make meaning of loss, and remain connected to the people, values, and ways of living that matter most.
In addition to grief, I commonly walk alongside people navigating:
Anxiety, chronic stress, & high sensitivity
Substance use
Depression & low self-esteem
Relationship difficulties of all kinds
Identity exploration related to biracial and multicultural experiences, class, spirituality, gender and sexual diversity, neurodivergence, and giftedness
Caregiver fatigue, moral injury, and burnout
Experiences of discrimination and marginalization
My approach is informal, eclectic, and intersectional. I am guided by principles of autonomy, choice, and inclusivity across bodies, abilities, identities, presentations, and neurotypes. My role is not to tell you who to be or how to live. I aim to serve as a supportive and transparent collaborator as you integrate your experiences into something more meaningful and manageable. I also believe there is room for humor in therapy. We don't have to leave our joy, playfulness, or wonderfully quirky parts at the door; they are most welcome in the space we create together.
Meet my therapy cats.
They may join us if meeting virtually!
Additional perspectives that have shaped my orientation to the work include third-world feminism, poststructuralism, harm reduction, and mad liberation. Together, these traditions encourage me to remain curious about the systems we live within, and the many ways people make meaning of their experiences.
The following are related educational experiences that continue to influence my current way of thinking:
2023 - Focused Acceptance & Commitment Therapy for Brief Interventions, Praxis
2023 - Crisis Specialist Certification, American Association of Suicidology
2023 - eCPR Practitioner Certification, Ebb & Flow Connections Cooperative
2023 - Therapist Training on Prolonged Grief, Columbia University Center for Prolonged Grief
2022 - Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies, Trauma Research Foundation
2022 - Certificate in Death Midwifery, Earth Traditions
2022 - Working with Hearing Voices & Unusual Beliefs, Peter Bullimore & Colleagues
2022 - Verbal De-escalation Training, Crisis Prevention Institute
2022 - Compassionate Inquiry Master Class, Gabor Maté
2022 - When Conversation Turns to Suicide, Wildflower Alliance
2021 - Abolition Institute of Maroon University, UIC Social Justice Initiative
2019 - Undoing Racism / Community Organizing, The People’s Institute for Survival & Beyond
2018 - HIV Testing in Non-Clinical Settings, Chicago Department of Public Health
2017 - Just Say Know, Midwest Harm Reduction Institute (MHRI)
2015 - Motivational Interviewing Parts I & II, MHRI
2015 - Opioid Overdose Educator, Chicago Recovery Alliance
2014 - Mental Health First Aid Responder, Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4)
2014 - IL Certified Domestic Violence Professional, IL Certified Domestic Violence Professional Board
2013 - Harm Reduction Training, Shira Hassan & The Night Ministry
2012 - IL Certified Domestic Violence Advocate, Between Friends
2012 - Being a Trans Ally, Chicago Freedom School
The Name
La Cigarra Counseling is named in honor of the cicada, a symbol of renewal, rebirth, and transformation. Known for their remarkable life cycle, cicadas spend years beneath the earth before shedding their exoskeletons and filling the air with their song. Their rhythm of dormancy and emergence reminds me that change is often slow, unseen, and deeply rooted.
I find great inspiration in the many lessons Madre Tierra has to offer. The natural world has much to teach us about our relationships to one another, our capacity for change, and about encounters with life and death. We are not meant to remain unchanged. We, too, can shed what no longer serves us and grow into new ways of living and relating. Like the cicada that molts its skin to emerge anew, we too are continually becoming.