When Dr. Sarah DeCosmo first reached out to Dr. Amanda Ori, she wasn’t looking for a job; she was looking for a therapist. She’d been combing through Psychology Today, and Dr. Ori stood out to her.
“I really liked her health psychology background, her personality, the way she presented herself, her website, I just felt drawn to her,” Dr. DeCosmo recalled.
But because Dr. Ori wasn't in-network with her insurance, she never started therapy services with her. She moved on, temporarily at least. Months later, as Dr. DeCosmo began to consider pursuing the private practice world, one name came back to mind.
“So I reached out to Amanda again, this time as a potential colleague,” she laughed.
And the rest is history.
Dr. DeCosmo, is a licensed clinical psychologist, born and raised in Chicago. After college, she returned to the city and has stayed close ever since. She said she always knew she wanted to work in healthcare, even though no one in her family had taken that path.
“I always liked talking to people and being around people. It had always been team energy, team sports and activities, being around others. But I also wasn’t exactly a math-and-science person,” she shared. “So I started exploring psychology thanks to a family friend who let me shadow her. I was totally fascinated by it all.”
That experience in high school was enough to guide her towards a psychology major in college without an exact plan for the future.. “I applied to grad school kind of on a whim. Some public health programs, some clinical psych ones. I didn’t really think I’d get in. But then I did. And I thought, maybe that meant something.”
A moment Dr. DeCosmo felt certain she was on the right path came during her second year of clinical training. She had spent her first rotation in a neuropsychology practice and found it was not quite as fulfilling or engaging as she’d hoped it would be. When she was placed with a liver transplant team at a hospital, everything changed.
“I just loved it,” she said. “Being part of a medical team, working with patients in such a raw, real way. I liked that I was just kind of thrown into the deep end. It gave me that feeling of, oh, this is it. This is what it’s supposed to feel like.”
That moment solidified her passion for health psychology, a specialty bridging mental and physical well-being. Her training included work with chronic illness, chronic pain, oncology, palliative care, and more, all embedded in medical systems. Now, she brings that same holistic perspective to both her hospital role and her part-time work in private practice. Working in both settings has opened Dr. DeCosmo’s eyes to the unique challenges and benefits of each.
“In the hospital, there’s this amazing interdisciplinary energy,” she explained. “You’re part of a big system, working with doctors, nurses, social workers. It’s collaborative.”
In contrast, private practice offers something different. “It’s more autonomous, more flexible. And being part of a group practice like Amanda’s means I still have that sense of community. I’m not in it alone.”
Health psychology isn’t about mental health alone; it’s about how physical and emotional health intertwine.
“A lot of my work is with people who are navigating chronic illness or pain, or who have specific health-related goals,” she said.
For Dr. DeCosmo, being involved in both worlds, and embracing the overlap between them, gives her the best of both: structure and spontaneity, collaboration and creativity.
Like many therapists, Dr. DeCosmo is deeply dedicated to the human, personal connection at the heart of her work.
“I love getting to meet people from all walks of life,” she said. “It gives me such perspective and also this ongoing sense of empathy and patience. Not just as a clinician, but as a person.”
Of course, the job has its hard days, but Dr. DeCosmo said that the pros definitely outweigh any difficult parts.
“It can be exhausting working in a big healthcare system. Sometimes you just see the cracks of our healthcare in America and that it is not so kind to people; sometimes it feels like we're just kind of this small piece in the puzzle and that can be overwhelming. I definitely have never felt more challenged and more exhausted, but also more excited, proud, and satisfied in my life than when doing this job.”
For those considering pursuing the mental health field, Dr. DeCosmo encourages curiosity, patience, and trust that it will all work out.
“The mental health field is so big. I think keeping a really open mind and trying different hands out and seeing what feels right is important. I think the cool thing about having a degree in psychology is that you're not limited," she said. “Talk to people. Try things out. Be open to the unexpected. You don’t have to have a perfect plan. Just be willing to explore, and you’ll find what’s right for you.”
Whether in a bustling hospital or her brightly lit, warm, red-bricked therapy office in Lincoln Park, Dr. DeCosmo brings the same heart to every conversation: empathy, honesty, and the belief that even, or perhaps especially, small moments of connection can be healing.
“It’s a field where the work never ends,” she said. “But that’s also why it’s so beautiful. There’s always more to learn, more to give, more to grow.”
