Education
Master of Social Work from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
John Eads, LCSW · he/him
Warm, curious, and practical—with room for honest challenge
I believe clients already possess important knowledge, strengths, and capacities. My role is to help you recognize what you know, understand what has made change difficult, and use tools that fit your life.
Professional headshotUse the same portrait family as the homepage.
About my work
Therapy, parent consultation, and clinical assessment
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with Foundations for Change, LLC. I provide individual therapy, parent consultation, clinical ADHD evaluations, and preliminary autism screening.
I generally work with therapy clients age 10 and older and provide ADHD evaluations beginning around age 8. My primary specialty is ADHD, and I also work extensively with anxiety, depression, executive-functioning difficulties, emotional regulation, stress, burnout, self-esteem, relationships, grief, identity, and major life changes.
What you can expect
WarmCalmCuriousEncouragingGentleInsight-orientedChallenging when useful
My style
Empathy and challenge both have a place.
Sometimes clients need space to be understood without being pushed. At other times, a respectful question, new perspective, or direct challenge can help move the work forward.
Therapy is usually open-ended enough to respond to what matters in the moment. When clients want a more structured approach, we can incorporate skills, exercises, worksheets, and practical strategies.
I focus largely on the present while recognizing that current patterns have histories. Understanding where a response began can help us decide whether it still serves a purpose, needs to change, or deserves to be met with greater acceptance.
Why ADHD became my specialty
ADHD is professionally important and personally meaningful to me.
I have ADHD and have experienced some of the challenges of moving through childhood and adulthood in schools, workplaces, and systems that were not designed to help people with ADHD thrive.
The difficulties are not limited to attention. ADHD can affect motivation, time, organization, relationships, emotions, self-confidence, and the ability to consistently show what you know or what you are capable of doing.
I have also seen the stigma and shame that develop when these difficulties are misunderstood as laziness, carelessness, lack of discipline, or unwillingness to try. My goal is not to suggest that every challenge should simply be accepted or explained away. It is to help clients understand themselves accurately enough to make useful choices without treating shame as a motivational strategy.
Shared identity is not a shared template.My personal experience informs my empathy, but I do not assume that another person’s ADHD is the same as mine. Each client’s needs, strengths, identity, circumstances, and goals are different.
“LGBTQ+ clients are welcome to bring their whole lives into therapy—not only concerns directly related to being LGBTQ+.”
LGBTQ+ affirming care
A therapist who understands that identity is part of life, not the entirety of it
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I value the opportunity to work with LGBTQ+ clients.
Clients may want to directly explore sexuality, identity, relationships, family acceptance, disclosure, or community. Others simply want a therapist with whom their identity does not need to be defended or repeatedly explained.
Education and experience
Clinical training informed by community, medical, and court settings
These experiences have allowed me to work with youth, adults, parents, families, healthcare systems, schools, courts, and community resources.
Licensure
Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Missouri.
Previous settings
Family Court of St. Louis County and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Community health
Family Care Health Centers, a federally qualified health center.
Clinical methods
Integrative, collaborative, and grounded in plain language
My work draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, DBT-informed skills, mindfulness, trauma-informed and strengths-based care, executive-functioning strategies, and Internal Family Systems–informed techniques when useful.
Acceptance and change
I believe acceptance can be powerful. I leave it to the client to decide whether they want to directly change a behavior or thought pattern, practice mindful acceptance and kindness, or explore a combination of both.
Tools and between-session exercises are offered collaboratively. They are never requirements, and not completing one is not a failure.
MusicCookingSt. Louis CITY SCOutdoors, allergy permittingCat parentReturned Peace Corps Volunteer
A little about me outside therapy
Human first, professional always
I am a cat parent who often lives vicariously through other people to meet my dog quota. I enjoy music, cooking, following St. Louis CITY SC, and spending time outdoors when the weather—and my allergies—are agreeable.
I am also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer and served in Cajamarca, Peru. I speak Spanish, but I provide counseling and evaluations in English and am not offering Spanish-language therapy.
Much of my current free time is spent trying to determine whether whatever my toddler just put in her mouth is toxic—or trying to recover my debit card before she finds a use for it.
Considering therapy or an evaluation?