Welcome!

My name is Lauren (she/her) and I support LGBTQIA+ folks and people with chronic illnesses. I’ve been providing therapy services since 2018. My goal is to help clients navigate stressors, celebrate their most authentic selves, and feel more empowered in daily life.

Background

I found my way to this work after recovering from an unexpected musculoskeletal trauma in my early twenties. During this chapter, I spent three years on bed rest and frequently consumed content about contemplative wisdom, psychology, integrative medicine, and sociopolitical issues. Out of necessity, I learned how to sit with substantial pain and uncertainty. I also learned that my grief and joy could coexist. Once on the other side of significant healing, I pursued a degree in clinical social work. While I’m appreciative for some of my formal training, I believe that my relevant lived experiences have more profoundly prepared me to be present and hold space for others. They have also helped me to embrace disability pride, queer joy, and self-compassion. Now I’m here to support clients in finding whatever “well-being” means for them.

Social Locations

I identify as white, cisgender, queer, millennial-aged, and disabled. I’m hypermobile (EDS, POTS, MCAS) with chronic pain and some neurodivergent traits. I’ve experienced my disability in ways that are dynamic, visible, and invisible. I’ve had access to education and have experienced both class privilege and financial hardship. I’m of Irish and Polish descent. I’m someone who has had to heal from religious and coming out trauma. I would currently describe myself as spiritual. My personal interests include contemplative practices, gardening, snowshoeing, and astrology.

Education

Columbia University in New York: MSW with a specialization in Advance Clinical Practice and a focus in Health, Mental Health, and Disabilities.

Middlebury College in Vermont: BA with a major in English Literature and a minor in Environmental Studies.

Clinical Training

UCSF Children’s Hospital in Oakland, CA: Pediatric hospital providing inpatient and outpatient care. I contributed as a medical social worker at the endocrinology clinic.

Center for Mindful Psychotherapy in San Francisco, CA: Nonprofit organization focusing on holistic and mindful approaches to therapy. I supported queer and disabled clients via telehealth.

Pacific Center in Berkeley, CA: LGBTQIA+ community mental health clinic providing sliding-scale psychodynamic therapy services. I worked with individuals and groups re: grief and chronic illness.

Liberation Institute in San Francisco, CA: Grassroots organization prioritizing access to care and centering liberation psychology. I provided weekly therapy services for queer and trans folks.

Values

I’m invested in the struggle for intersectional equity and collective liberation. I believe in interdependence, indigenous sovereignty, reparations, reproductive justice, trans joy, health at every size, covid consciousness, disability justice, and community care. I recognize that all licensed mental health clinicians are currently practicing within a broken capitalist system and harmful medical industrial complex. I’m committed to the ongoing work of examining my role, resisting oppressive approaches to care, and centering the voices of those most marginalized. I’m not okay with medical gaslighting, gatekeeping, policing, or upholding ideals that are rooted in white supremacy and cisheteropatriarchy. I plan to continue unlearning alongside colleagues with similar perspectives.