The Emotion Management Program, LLC (EMP) provides psychotherapy from a contextual behavior perspective. EMP specializes in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), an empirically validated treatment for persons who suffer from affective instability and who frequently engage in self-injurious and suicidal behavior.

Our History

EMP operates from offices in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. Services originally were provided under the auspices of the University of Chicago Hospital’s Psychiatry Department for ten years, with an outpatient program on the Hospital's campus, and a day treatment program at the University of Chicago's Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center in Tinley Park, Illinois. The program's day treatment program then operated for one year as part of the Behavioral Health program of Trinity Services, Inc., a large not-for-profit organization with multiple sites in southern Cook and Will counties in Illinois.

In April 2004, after State of Illinois budget cuts affecting the Office of Mental Health (OMH), Trinity Services--which relies on OMH grants to fund its programs-- made a decision to discontinue some of its services, including the EMP day treatment program, in order to remain fiscally sound. Convinced of the continuing need for the services provided by the program, the director and staff of EMP resolved to find a way to continue serving existing clients and make services available to others.

EMP--now a private enterprise--provides outpatient services from its offices in Tinley Park.