Brittany Lakin-Starr, PhD, TEP (she/her) is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and a certified trainer, educator, and practitioner of psychodrama (TEP). She is the founder and co-director of the Chicago Center for Psychodrama, and has been offering trainings and workshops to hospitals, mental health practices, psychologists, social workers, counselors, attorneys, and graduate students throughout the Chicagoland area since 2016. Dr. Lakin-Starr and two of her CCP colleagues were honored at the 2026 annual ASGPP Conference with the Collaborator’s Award in recognition of their work growing and advancing psychodrama throughout the Midwest. Additionally, Dr. Lakin-Starr was honored as an ASGPP Fellow in recognition of her significant contributions to the field of psychodrama.

Dr. Lakin-Starr has more than 15 years of clinical experience and treats children, families, and adults in her role as the co-founder of the Chicago Center for Growth and Change, a group therapy practice in Chicago. She has been using psychodrama as a therapeutic tool for the last 14 years in both individual and group therapy. 

Additionally, she is certified in EMDR (Emdria trained) and Gottman Couples therapy, trained in Prolonged Exposure therapy for PTSD, and Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT).

Dr. Lakin-Starr previously worked for 7 years as a staff psychologist at Illinois Masonic Medical Center’s Behavioral Health Services where she provided supervision and didactic instruction for the clinical psychology doctoral training program. She also led psychodrama therapy groups for adults struggling with depression, anxiety, relationship issues, trauma, and chronic mental illness. In 2015, she created the Psychodrama Training Track to allow practicum students to gain specific skills and experiences in psychodrama.

Dr. Lakin-Starr has worked in a variety of settings and has helped adults and children in medical centers, inpatient psychiatric hospitals, children’s hospitals, community mental health centers and college counseling centers.  Dr. Lakin-Starr has also taught many undergraduate psychology classes as adjunct faculty at Loyola University and was a frequent guest lecturer at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. 

Dr. Lakin-Starr has presented at local and national conferences and has been featured as an expert in Advocate Health eNews and on The 50 Minute Hour, a therapy podcast for lay people, where she discussed psychodrama.

Education

Graduate: Loyola University Chicago, Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, child and family track

Undergraduate: University of New Mexico

Clinical Internship: Indiana University School of Medicine

Post-Doctoral Fellowship: Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center

Certifications

Board Certified Trainer, Educator, and Practitioner of psychodrama (TEP) by The American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy

Trainer, Educator, and Practitioner in Psychodrama (Trained at Hudson Valley Psychodrama Institute and Midsouth Center for Psychodrama and Sociometry) 

Awards

2026 American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama (ASGPP) Fellow

2026 American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama (ASGPP) Collaborator’s Award.