About Laura
Child Counselor, Adult Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist
Telehealth
A Peacemaker’s Path
Searching
As a child, I was described as a deep thinker with a tenderheart. Growing up, I frequently spoke up for people who were being treated unfairly, tried to make peace between my peers, and sought to help my friends through their struggles. When I entered college I began to study psychology, eventually earning 3 degrees in the field.
After my bachelors degree I worked for an outdoor experiential education organization that served court-involved adolescents. This was a very powerful experience! It opened my eyes to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), toxic stress, and trauma. The overwhelming majority of the teens at my program had endured profound hardship. I was astounded by their resilience!
Despite my respect for these teens, I did not yet feel equipped to help them.
I returned to school for my masters degree. At the time, I did not pursue specialization in counseling and psychotherapy. In fact I actively avoided it! I sensed the tremendous weight of responsibility shouldered by psychotherapists, entrusted as they are with the most sensitive parts of someone else’s life. If I were to be a psychotherapist, I wanted to do that work well and at the time, despite pouring over books and even taking a class in counseling theories, I was not sure how.
Clarity
Upon the completion of my masters degree, I accepted a job working with children with autism. The years I spent doing this work were truly revelatory. They helped me appreciate the profound role relationships have on an individual’s development. My young clients taught me that a sense of connection and respect from a fellow human being is a primary driver of one’s growth.
I returned to graduate school with this understanding, this time to pursue my PhD. Surprisingly I saw that what I had discovered while working with people with autism held equally true in a seemingly unrelated field. During my doctoral program I studied restorative practices, an approach to wrongdoing that uses dialogue, listening, understanding, and committing to make things as right as possible to help people recover from harm. Here again I saw the power respectful relationships hold to help people move past tremendous pain and challenges.
After that, I was hooked! I committed to providing that kind of relationship in my work. Finally, after many years, I decided to be a psychotherapist. Psychotherapy is at its essence a relationship-based profession.
Who and How I Help
At Centered Mind Counseling Services, I build on my experience working with children, teenagers, and their caregivers, extending out to work with persons of any age who struggle with anxiety or related challenges (e.g. worry, stress, trauma, conflict, high sensitivity). During the COVID-19 pandemic, I plan to work with individuals and families but hope to offer group therapy at some point in the not-too-distant future.
My work is grounded in trauma-informed care and evidenced-based practices. I prioritize creating and maintaining a sense of safety and respect during therapy sessions. I then draw upon well-grounded interventions that, to varying degrees, incorporate trying new things and paying a playfully-critical kind of attention to one’s thoughts and feelings, e.g. CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy), COS (Circle of Security) and SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions). Each is geared toward specific age groups and each has the potential to effectively address anxiety and related struggles.
I believe a person comes to therapy in search of another human being they can trust with a problem they, on their own, experience as overwhelming. A person wants to feel safe with and respected by their therapist. They want to work with a therapist who is knowledgeable- someone who has experience accompanying others with similar struggles, someone who will not be overwhelmed by their problem, and someone who can refrain from taking over their work/journey. When thinking about my role as a therapist, I take all of the above as my ideal. I work to earn the trust others have placed in me.
Credentials
BS Psychology
MA Psychology
PhD Psychology
LMHCA, Washington State