David Arute, LCPC
OWNER | PSYCHOTHERAPIST | EMDR & AEDP CLINICIAN
Hello and welcome! I’m David Arute, LCPC, a therapist and the founder of Octagon Therapy.
For nearly 15 years, I’ve helped people step out of old patterns, confront what’s been running their lives, and move toward an identity that finally feels true.
I didn’t come to this work to perform therapy techniques. I came to this work because transformation — real, embodied, relational transformation — matters to me. I believe change is possible for anyone willing to face themselves with honesty, courage, and support.
In my office — the octagon that eventually named this practice — a client once said:
“This is where I’m forced to face myself.”
He captured the essence of the work better than any brochure ever could.
This space, and this work, exist for people who are ready for that level of encounter.
My Approach to Therapy
Therapy as a relational, experiential encounter
I practice therapy in a way that is deeply relational, emotionally present, and attuned to your internal experience moment by moment. My work is grounded in:
• AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy)
• Somatic awareness and embodiment
• Attachment-based healing
• Affect facilitation and transformation
• Identity development and integration
This is not therapy where we sit back and analyze your life like a puzzle. This is work where we meet what emerges, stay with it, and follow it toward something more alive, coherent, and whole.
I bring my full humanity into the room
You won’t get a blank slate or a distant professional facade. You’ll get a real human being — grounded, attuned, present, and unafraid of intensity — who sits with you, feels with you, and helps you move through what has felt immovable.
I hold the space.
You take the steps.
Together, we create the change.
My Clinical Background
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in Illinois
Nearly 15 years of clinical experience
Level II training in AEDP
EMDR trained
Extensive experience in trauma-focused psychotherapy
Former co-founder and co-president of a successful group practice
10+ years of supervising and mentoring other clinicians
My work has evolved over the years from general practice to highly focused, depth-oriented, transformative psychotherapy.
Octagon Therapy is the culmination of that evolution.
Who I Work Best With
I work with adults who want more than coping skills.
My best-fit clients are often:
• High performers who look “fine” on the outside but feel disconnected inside
• People carrying unresolved trauma (attachment, relational, developmental)
• Individuals who’ve outgrown old identities and need to redefine themselves
• Therapists and healers doing their own inner work
• Men and women in leadership who carry invisible emotional weight
• People ready to stop performing and start living from their true selves
If you’re ready for honesty, depth, and real movement — you’ll feel at home here.
Why the Octagon
The octagon is a symbol of transition — a space between forms.
Not a square. Not a circle. Something in between.
It represents:
• containment
• transformation
• balance
• identity formation
• the movement from who you’ve been to who you’re becoming
It’s where your old structures loosen, and your new ones take shape.
Here, you are neither who you were nor yet who you will become.
You’re in the process. And that process matters.
My Commitment to You
If we work together, you can expect:
a deeply attuned therapeutic relationship
honesty, presence, and authenticity
a pace shaped by your nervous system, not by external pressure
a space where nothing in you is too much
a steady collaborator who believes in your capacity to transform
My commitment is to offer a space where your truth can finally emerge and be met with clarity, compassion, and skill.
