Meet the Founder
Carla da Cunha
MA, LCPC
Founder of Serengeti Wellness
Carla founded Serengeti Wellness to create a more human, culturally attuned approach to therapy. A place where people from all backgrounds can bring their full story, feel deeply seen, and receive care that honors who they are, where they come from, and where they are hoping to go.
Schedule Consult CallThe Heart Behind Serengeti Wellness
Serengeti Wellness was born out of Carla's belief that therapy should feel personal, compassionate, and deeply human. For Carla, therapy is more than a place to talk through what feels heavy. It is a space where people can feel safe enough to be honest, supported enough to heal, and encouraged enough to reconnect with themselves. It is a place where your full story matters.
As a therapist, founder, immigrant, and multicultural clinician, Carla understands that healing is shaped by more than what happens inside the therapy room. Our cultures, families, identities, relationships, histories, and communities all influence how we move through the world. Serengeti Wellness was built to honor all of those layers with care.
Why Carla Founded Serengeti Wellness
Carla began her mental health care journey in South Africa, where she opened a private practice in 2013. There, she worked with children and adults navigating trauma, relationship challenges, school-related concerns, and life stressors.
When she moved to Chicago in 2017, she brought with her international knowledge, training, and experience. Her work in hospital settings, community mental health care, and private practice has helped deepen her understanding of what people in the Chicago community actually need when they are seeking mental health care support.
Her experiences helped shape the foundation of Serengeti Wellness. This practice is built on a foundation of warm, thoughtful, culturally aware, and clinically strong care. A place where therapy is approachable and worthwhile. A place where clients are treated as whole people, not problems to be solved.
Therapy That Honors Your Whole Story
At Serengeti Wellness, care is never generic or rigid. Every person brings a unique story into therapy, and here that story is met with curiosity, respect, and compassion by our amazing team of therapists.
Carla understands how deeply identity and culture can shape everyday life. They influence how we see ourselves, how others see us, how we relate, how we grieve, how we love, and how we make sense of our experiences. This is especially important in her work with individuals and couples who identify as multicultural, multiracial, immigrant, or part of blended cultural and family systems.
Through Serengeti Wellness, Carla has created a safe and welcoming environment for clients navigating anxiety, depression, relationship strain, life transitions, family dynamics, pregnancy and postpartum experiences, self-esteem struggles, grief, and trauma. No matter what brings someone in, the goal is always to make therapy feel relevant, personal, and connected to their real life.
A Culturally Attuned Approach to Healing
Carla sometimes describes her work as being a "Soul Surgeon." To her, this means approaching each client's story with care, steadiness, and respect for the tender places that need attention.
This spirit is woven throughout Serengeti Wellness. Therapy here is collaborative, warm, and personalized. It is not about fixing who you are. It is about helping you understand yourself more deeply, care for the parts of you that have been hurting, and move toward the life and relationships you want.
Carla brings her clinical experience and multicultural perspective into the room, while also honoring that each client is the expert on their own life. Her role is to walk alongside clients with honesty, compassion, and thoughtful guidance.
Normalizing Therapy and Making Care Feel Human
One of Carla's greatest hopes for Serengeti Wellness is to help normalize therapy.
She believes everyone can benefit from having a trained professional in their corner and a space fully dedicated to their wellness. Therapy does not have to be saved for a breaking point. It can be a place to reflect, heal, grow, ask hard questions, and feel less alone.
Carla's vision is for Serengeti Wellness to be known in the community for care that is both culturally attuned and therapeutically competent. Care that feels grounded, respectful, and human.
The Serengeti Wellness Mission
Serengeti Wellness is more than just another therapy practice. It is the practice Carla dreamed of building for people who want to feel truly seen in their mental health care experiences. At its heart, Serengeti Wellness exists to remind people that they do not have to navigate life alone. Healing can happen with support. Growth can happen with care. And therapy can be a place where your story is held with the respect it deserves.
All are Welcome Here
The founding vision for Serengeti Wellness has always been to create a
space where people can come as they are and feel met with compassion,
respect, and care. Your culture, identity, relationships, faith,
family history, lived experiences, and the many roles you carry in the
world are not separate from your healing. They are part of your story,
and they deserve to be honored
You are welcome to start from wherever you are, and we will meet you there with care.