High-attunement AEDP and EMDR therapy for high performing adults in Wheaton, IL
Discover You. Create You. Show up for You.
Most people come to therapy wanting relief.
The people who stay are the ones who want transformation...
Octagon Therapy began with something a client once said while sitting in my (former) octagon-shaped office:
“I call your office ‘The Octagon’ because this is where I’m forced to face myself.”
He wasn’t talking about the room.
He was naming the work.
The octagon became a symbol of what happens here:
a contained, relational, intensity-capable space where your defenses soften, your truth emerges, and your most authentic self finally steps forward.
This is not therapy as usual.
It’s identity work.
It’s depth work.
It’s work that changes you at your core.
About David Arute, LCPC
I’ve spent nearly 15 years sitting with people in the raw places—where trauma meets longing, where defenses meet truth, where identity meets possibility.
I’m an AEDP therapist nearing Level III completion and on the path to certification. My work integrates:
experiential and somatic processing
trauma healing rooted in attachment
moment-to-moment relational presence
depth-oriented exploration of identity and selfhood
I’m not here to analyze you from afar. I’m here to be with you—fully, humanly, attentively—as we meet what arises in your system.
My clients are often high-performing adults, leaders, creators, and those who have spent years holding everything together externally while feeling disconnected internally.
They come to me when they’re ready for real change.
The Octagon Approach
Transformation happens in three movements:
DISCOVER YOU
We slow down enough for what’s true to finally surface. Old patterns, hidden grief, protective strategies, and buried longing all find space to be seen.
01.
CREATE YOU
Once the truth is visible, we begin shaping what’s next—new relational patterns, new identity structures, new embodied experiences of yourself.
02.
SHOW UP FOR YOU
This is where integration takes root. You learn to anchor in yourself, act from your truth, and maintain internal coherence even when life gets hard.
03.
This work is not quick. It’s not superficial. It’s not for everyone.
But if you’re ready to face yourself—and walk forward with clarity and integrity—this is where that journey begins.
Who I Work With
I specialize in working with adults who are:
Navigating trauma (attachment, relational, developmental)
Feeling stuck despite years of coping or previous therapy
High performers carrying quiet emotional burdens
Leaders, founders, executives, and athletes under pressure
Individuals seeking identity-level transformation
Therapists or healers needing their own deep work
If you want therapy that is honest, embodied, and transformative, you’re in the right place.
Where You Face Yourself — and Become Yourself
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Deep, relational, experiential work for adults ready to change
•
Discover You. Create You. Show up for You.
•
Beyond coping and into becoming
Where You Face Yourself — and Become Yourself • Deep, relational, experiential work for adults ready to change • Discover You. Create You. Show up for You. • Beyond coping and into becoming
My Offerings
Individual Therapy
Weekly or intensive sessions focused on deep, experiential change.
Therapy for Therapists
A space for clinicians to do their own work, repair relational wounds, and deepen their capacity for attunement.
Therapeutic Jiujitsu
A unique integration of jiujitsu principles and experiential therapy, designed to help participants confront themselves, regulate intensity, and develop embodied presence.
Therapy for Professional Athletes
Therapy for athletes navigating pressure, identity, and the internal demands of elite sport.
Clinical Supervision
For therapists seeking mentorship rooted in attachment, presence, and experiential depth.
Public Speaking
David offers talks and presentations on trauma, identity, embodiment, and the psychology of transformation.
