We came to therapy through art. For more than twenty years, our lives as performance artists in Chicago were devoted to exploring what it means to be human — the intricate, often contradictory mix of longing, fear, connection, and solitude that shapes us all. Our performances and collaborations were attempts to give some thread of understanding to the ineffable.

In many ways, our group practice was born from this same pursuit. Over time, we realized that the questions we were asking via art — about identity, memory, and the unconscious — were the same ones people bring to therapy. We became more interested in creating a therapeutic space where such questions could be explored through conversation, reflection, and genuine human connection.  

Todd’s path led him to change careers and become a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. His work now bridges his background in the arts to the study and practice of psychoanalytic oriented psychotherapy — and his ongoing learning to become an analyst deepens that connection every day. For Marrakesh, after years as a gallery owner, video director, artist, and producer, the shift came in recognizing that creating and curating spaces — whether artistic or therapeutic — share the same goal: to hold people’s stories and experiences with care and imagination. Together, we envisioned a practice where therapists and clients alike could feel welcomed, grounded, and creatively engaged in the process of discovery.

As artists, we took to heart the charge of playwright and author Samuel Beckett, “To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now.” For us, talk therapy and psychoanalysis became that form — a way to hold and work with the beautifully complex “mess” of being alive.

At Chicago Talk Therapy, our mission is to offer a warm, thoughtful environment where the artistic and analytic meet — where both therapist and client can listen closely, think deeply, and allow new forms of understanding to emerge.