Zachary Wolf
Social Work Intern Practicing Under Clinical Supervision
Pronouns: He/Him
Offering in-person sessions in Chicago and telehealth for clients across Illinois
Therapy for Teens and Young Adults Who Are Done Pretending to Be Fine
Direct, grounded support to help you stop adapting to a world that wasn't built for you — and start building a life that actually fits.
Let’s Start Here
You've gotten good at figuring out what people expect from you — and delivering it. At school, at work, in social situations, you read the room and adjust. You've probably been doing it so long it's automatic. But there's a gap between the version of yourself you present and how things actually feel on the inside — and lately, that gap is exhausting. . Maybe you recently got a diagnosis that finally explained some things. Maybe you're in the middle of a transition and nothing feels stable yet. Maybe anxiety and low mood have been background noise for years and you're just now deciding you don't want to live like that anymore. Whatever brought you here — you don't have to explain yourself perfectly. We'll start with whatever is most present and go from there.
What would you say to someone who’s nervous or unsure about starting therapy?
If you've spent years figuring out how to fit into spaces that weren't built for you — reading every room, adjusting, performing — and you're exhausted by it, that's exactly who I work with. I'm Zach Wolf, a social work intern at Tides Mental Health. Reach out and let's see what's possible.
What would you say to someone who’s nervous or unsure about starting therapy?
If you've spent years figuring out how to fit into spaces that weren't built for you — reading every room, adjusting, performing — and you're exhausted by it, that's exactly who I work with. I'm Zach Wolf, a social work intern at Tides Mental Health. Reach out and let's see what's possible.
What It’s Like to Work Together
Sessions with me are direct and collaborative — there's no performance required, and no pretending things are fine when they're not. We'll talk honestly about what's getting in the way. I'll ask real questions and you'll get real responses back, not just reflective nodding. If something I say doesn't land right, I want to know that too.
A lot of what we do is rooted in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) — which isn't about forcing yourself to think positively or eliminating difficult feelings. It's about changing your relationship with those thoughts and feelings so they stop running the show. We'll work on getting clearer about what actually matters to you, noticing when anxiety or old patterns are pulling you away from that, and building habits that move your life in a direction that feels more like yours.
The work is practical and the sessions are honest. I came to this from a non-traditional path — I've worked in different fields, lived in different places, and had to figure out more than once what I actually wanted my life to look like. That experience shapes how I show up here: with genuine curiosity, without assumptions, and without pretending I have all the answers.
What can clients expect it to feel like in a session with you?
Sessions with me feel like a real back-and-forth — not a performance on your end or mine. I'm not going to sit here quietly and nod. I'll engage with what you're actually saying, and I expect the same from you. We'll figure out together what's useful and what isn't, and we'll adjust. There's room to be direct here — in fact, I prefer it.
What’s one reason you’re passionate about the work you do?
I came to therapy later than most — after working in completely different fields and spending a lot of time figuring out what I actually wanted from my own life. That path didn't feel like a detour. It taught me that people are more resilient than they get credit for, and that most of the time, what someone needs isn't to be fixed — it's to be taken seriously. That's what I'm here for.
Clinical Specialties
- Anxiety — including social anxiety, performance anxiety, and the kind that never fully quiets down
- Depression and persistent low mood
- Autistic identity and late or recent diagnosis — making sense of what it means and what changes
- Masking and social exhaustion — the cost of performing neurotypicality over years
- Life transitions and figuring out what comes next
- Identity and self-understanding — especially for people who've felt like they don't quite fit
- Navigating complex systems, institutions, or environments that feel misaligned
- Co-occurring anxiety and depression in adolescents and young adults
Treatment Modalities
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) – shift your relationship with difficult thoughts and feelings so they have less power over what you do — not by eliminating them, but by loosening their grip
- Values clarification – cut through the noise to get clearer on what actually matters to you, so your actions can start moving in that direction
- Behavioral activation - identify the specific patterns keeping you stuck and make deliberate, practical shifts that build momentum
- Mindfulness-based tools– applied practically, not abstractly — to help you notice what's happening and respond with more intention
Populations Served
- Adolescents (ages 15 and up)
- Young adults navigating college, early career, identity, or diagnosis
- Autistic and neurodivergent individuals, including those with a recent or late diagnosis
- People who have spent years adapting to environments that weren't designed for them
- Those experiencing co-occurring anxiety and depression
- Individuals in major life transitions — educational, professional, or personal
- Clients new to therapy or who've had mixed experiences with it before
Training & Credentials
- Education: BA in Mathematics — Washington University in St. Louis, Master of Arts in Social Work candidate (expected June 2027) — University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice
- Licensure: Social Work Intern practicing under clinical supervision at Tides Mental Health
- Primary modality: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Languages Spoken: English
- Availability: Offering in-person sessions in Chicago and telehealth for clients across Illinois
If you've spent a long time feeling like you have to translate yourself for other people — or like therapy is just another place where you'll have to perform — this is worth reconsidering. The work here is honest, practical, and built around who you actually are, not who it would be easier for you to be.
Reaching out doesn't require a polished explanation of what's wrong. A first conversation is just that — a conversation.
Insurance We Accept
We accept most major insurance providers and offer several convenient payment methods to ensure accessibility for your care. We also offer various payment methods, including credit cards, bank transfers, and electronic payments.
