Stefanie Warning-Probst, Psy.D.
Dr. Warning-Probst is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in comprehensive psychological assessment across the lifespan. She has particular expertise in autism, ADHD, learning differences, and complex or high-masking presentations in children, adolescents, and adults.
Dr. Warning-Probst trained at major Chicagoland medical institutions, including the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center, Advocate Health, and AMITA Health. Prior to opening First Steps Psychology, she worked as a clinical psychologist at Advocate Children’s Hospital and Northwestern Medicine in partnership with Lurie Children’s Hospital.
LICENSED CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST
Understanding the whole person—not just the diagnosis.
I became a psychologist because I wanted to understand why people think, feel, learn, and experience the world differently. Over years of working with children, adults, and families, I have learned that the most useful evaluation does more than determine whether someone meets criteria for a diagnosis. It helps make sense of the person behind the results.
That is especially important when the picture is complicated. Autism and ADHD do not always look the way people expect them to. Some children and adults have spent years compensating, masking, or finding ways to work around their challenges. Others have received different explanations for their difficulties without ever feeling that those explanations quite fit.
My approach to assessment is comprehensive, individualized, and collaborative. I integrate developmental history, clinical interviews, testing, observations, rating scales, and information from other relevant sources to understand patterns of strengths and challenges—not simply individual test scores.
Beyond the report
Getting an accurate diagnosis matters. Understanding what it means matters just as much.
My goal is for every person and family I work with to leave the evaluation with greater clarity: an understanding of strengths, challenges, why certain things may have been difficult, and what can help moving forward. Recommendations are designed to translate assessment findings into practical next steps at school, at work, in treatment, at home, and in everyday life.
A psychologist—and a parent
Becoming a parent has also changed the way I think about clinical recommendations. It is easy to describe what research says should work. It is much harder to make those strategies work in busy, complicated real life.
When I evaluate a child, I want parents to feel that I understand both sides of that equation. Recommendations need to be clinically sound, but they also need to make sense for the actual child, family, school, and circumstances in front of me.
Whether you are looking for answers for your child or have spent years trying to better understand yourself, my goal is the same: to help make sense of the full picture and identify a clearer path forward.
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, Roosevelt University
Master of Science in Developmental Psychology, University of Pittsburgh
Bachelor of Science in Psychology, University of Illinois