[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Roger Thomson, Ph.D.

(312) 263 8034
Send Email

"Both psychotherapy and mindfulness help us encounter our lives with purpose, curiosity, and joy. In the middle of emotional stresses, that positive energy can seem out of reach, but I believe that all of us, at any time, can take a significant step in that direction. To take that step, again and again, with gentle perseverance, will create a path toward well being and satisfaction."

"I am interested in working together to find that path. My style of therapy is interactive and collaborative, emphasizing both insight and action. Together we will develop the understanding and openness which is at the heart of constructive change. It is only by turning toward ourselves, our relationships, and yes, even our difficulties, that we find the most skillful response to them. In our therapy sessions, we will make a mutual effort to contact the source of acceptance, awareness, and health that resides in each one of us."

- Roger Thomson, Ph.D.

Profile

Roger Thomson, Co-director of Integrative Health Partners, received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern University. With over 30 years experience, he is expert in treating a wide range of problems, with special interests in helping people with anxiety, chronic pain and other medical problems, and marital problems. Personal and executive coaching is also one of his specialties. He has been on the faculty of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine since 1986, and for two decades he was the Director of Training at the Counseling Center of Fourth Presbyterian Church. Dr. Thomson has written and lectured on mindfulness in the practice of psychotherapy.

In addition to being a psychologist, Dr. Thomson is also a Soto Zen Buddhist priest. He received dharma transmission from Rev. Shoken Winecoff, Abbot of Ryumonji Zen Monastery, and he is a teacher in the lineage of Dainin Katagiri Roshi. His sangha in Chicago is called the Chicago Zen Meditation Community, which meets at 30 N Michigan and in Lincoln Park, and is sponsored in part by Integrative Health Partners.

Practice Information

Specialities: Anxiety, Stress, Life Changes, Problems associated with medical illness
Services: Mindfulness-based Psychotherapy (including ACT and MBCT), Couples Therapy, and Executive Coaching. Mindfulness trainings and workshops.
Professional Memberships: American Psychological Association, Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, Soto Zen Buddhist Association.
Insurance Networks: Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO
Licensure: Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Publications

Thomson, Roger. (2011). A Workbook to Teach Mindfulness to Teachers? PsycCRITIQUES Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books.

A review of Psychology Moment by Moment: A Guide to Enhancing Your Clinical Practice With Mindfulness and Meditationby Elise E. Labbé (Oakland, CA: New Harbinger, 2011).

View

Thomson, Roger. (2010). Buddhism on the Couch. PsycCRITIQUES Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books.

A review of The Zen Impulse and the Psychoanalytic Encounter by Paul C. Cooper (New York: Routledge, 2010).

View

Thomson, Roger. (2010). Buddhist Psychology: The Mind That Mindfulness Discloses. PsycCRITIQUES Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books.

A review of Unlimiting Mind: The Radically Experiential Psychology of Buddhism by Andrew Olendzki (Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2010).

View

Bly, Terri; Hammond, Megrette; Thomson, Roger; and Bagdade, Paul. (2007). Exploring the Use of Mindful Eating Training in the Bariatric Population. Bariatric Times, November/December 2007, 15-17.

A discussion of mindful eating in relation to bariatric surgery.

View

Thomson, Roger F. (2000). Zazen and psychotherapeutic presence. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 54, 531-548.

Zen meditation, or zazen, has attracted the interest of many psychotherapists. The teachings and practices of the Soto Zen tradition are understood as encouraging important areas of both psychological and spiritual development. Zen, like the relational psychoanalytic theories, encourages its practitioners to become aware of the fundamentally distorted aspects of an overly individualistic view of human experience. As a spiritual practice, zazen increases the practitioner’s tolerance of the Wholeness that Buddhists refer to as Emptiness. As a psychological practice, it helps us to be more flexibly and intimately present with our patients. An effective therapeutic process, even of the most secular type, will often contain elements of the meditative process of zazen, and failure to actualize this in psychotherapy can have a negative impact on our ability to understand and help our patients.

View

Head Space (interview with Roger Thomson by Yenni Kwok)

Kwok, Yenni (2005). “Head Space” (an interview with Roger Thomson). South China Morning Post, July 15, 2005.

View

The Science of Meditation (interview with Roger Thomson by Cary Barbour)

Barbour, Cary (2001). “The Science of Meditation” (an interview with Roger Thomson). Psychology Today, May/June 2001.

View