Meet the Provider
Hi, I’m Kates — a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner practicing under full practice authority in Illinois. I see patients for psychiatric care, including depression, anxiety, ADHD, mood disorders, and neurodiversity-related concerns; gender-affirming care; and complex integrative primary care for patients navigating multi-system and chronic conditions. I also offer Somatic Sessions — a separate, cash-pay wellness practice rooted in movement, breath, and body-based healing. Across all of it, I believe pretty firmly that mental health, physical health, and the way we live in our bodies are rarely as separate as the healthcare system likes to pretend they are.
My clinical approach is root-cause oriented and integrative. That doesn’t mean I avoid medications — it means I try to use them thoughtfully, keep regimens as simple as possible, and stay focused on what’s actually driving symptoms rather than layering on more treatments. For patients who’ve accumulated a lot of diagnoses and a lot of prescriptions over the years, I especially love working toward simplification — identifying what’s actually needed, what might be doing more harm than good, and what the body might be able to do on its own with the right support.
That said, not everyone who sees me is medically complex. A lot of my patients just want a provider who listens, manages their ADHD or mental health medications competently, and doesn’t make them feel like a number. That’s just as welcome here.
How I See Patients
I offer two distinct types of appointments, and it matters which one is the right fit.
When you see me as your nurse practitioner, I am assessing, diagnosing, and treating you within a full medical model. We’ll build a real clinical picture together, create a treatment plan, and manage it over time. These visits are billed through insurance. Appointment lengths are 60 minutes for complex or integrative care patients, and 30 minutes for established medication management and check-ins. I also offer 15-minute telehealth appointments for stable patients who just need a quick, routine touchpoint.
I also offer Somatic Sessions — a separate, cash-pay offering rooted in my own Somatic Integration Method. These sessions are not medical appointments. I’m not your NP in those sessions, I won’t be diagnosing or prescribing, and insurance doesn’t apply. What they are is an opportunity to work with me on the body-based side of health: movement, breath, nervous system regulation, nourishment, rest, recovery, and how practices like dance, yoga, Pilates, Qigong, and Tai Chi can support a healthier, more embodied life. If you want the clinical piece, you see me as your NP. If you want the wellness and movement piece, you book a Somatic Session. Some patients do both — just not in the same appointment.
Conditions & Concerns I Work With
Psychiatrically, I see patients for depression, anxiety, ADHD, mood disorders, and neurodiversity-related care. On the medical side, I work with patients navigating dysautonomia, POTS, MCAS, chronic fatigue, connective tissue concerns, and other complex multi-system presentations — always with an eye toward simplification and self-directed healing, not toward building a more complicated protocol.
I also provide gender-affirming care, and I want to be clear: everyone is welcome here. Bridge to Hope is an LGBTQ+ and neurodiversity-affirming practice, and that’s not a footnote — it’s foundational to how we work. Gender-affirming care is medical care, and it’s deeply individual. I work within established guidelines but always in service of each patient’s specific needs, goals, and desired outcomes. Some patients need more hands-on support and longer appointments; others are stable and just need a simple, reliable touchpoint every few months. We’ll figure out together what makes sense for you.
If you’re not sure whether you’re a good fit, reach out. I’d rather have a short conversation than have you talk yourself out of it.