Laura A. Natusch (She/Her)

I have 10 years experience providing psychotherapy to military families while employed by the Department of Defense working on Army and Navy military installations in the USA, Germany and Japan. I have in depth understanding of life for a military family and worked through the height of deployments to Iraq & Afghanistan supporting families and service members with long separations, trauma and grief. It's an honor supporting these families.

Relationships of all kinds are necessary for survival so when they fail we experience intense distress. Emotionally Focused Therapy is based on the science of adult attachment, developmental theory of personality and intimate relationships. Attachment views human beings as innately relational, social and wired for intimate bonding with others. The EFT model enable clients to move into the accessibility, responsiveness and full engagement of emotions that characterizes a secure attachment.

There is a crisis with teen mental health and more than ever they need community and their caregiving systems to pay attention. “Parenting is built on two pillars—love and empathy, structure and protection,” says Guy Diamond, PhD, co-creator of Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT) who I have had the honor of being directly supervised by. ABFT is an attachment-based, trauma-informed, emotion-focused intervention for youth with suicide, depression anxiety, and/or trauma.

I am a Clinical Fellow member of AAMFT (American Association of Marriage and Family Therapist) a worldwide professional association meaning I meet stringent training, education & licensing requirements. I graduated from a COAMFTE (Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy) University and have direct training and supervision in ABFT, Structural and Strategic Family Systems Theory.

I have extensive experience as a therapist and clinical supervisor working in adult and adolescent residential and outpatient chemical dependency programs. I completed special post graduate training for addictions at Outreach Training Institute in New York where I supervised an outpatient and inpatient family treatment services program for alcohol or other drugs. I currently will accept persons who are at least 1yr into their recovery for ongoing maintenance and personal development.

I maintain ongoing exposure to training and research on Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples. (EFT) an attachment based model that examines the negative, rigid interaction patterns along with the negative affect that typify distress in couple relationships in terms of emotional disconnection and insecure attachment. I have extensive work with multicultural couples, expat couples and those immigrating struggling with assimilation and acculturation. I myself have lived as a foreigner abroad.

If you are a military personnel or veteran your life is unique and you need a support person who understands that uniqueness. You are part of a sub culture with its own language, norms and expectations that regular civilian life can be ignorant to, leaving you feeling disconnected and not understood. I lived and worked abroad with the Navy and Army for over 10 years servicing military families during the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan war so I have a deeper and richer understanding.

Depression or anxiety can be paralyzing making life unpleasant or even unbearable on some days. Feeling understood, safe and cared about is important to begin the healing process. The majority of depression and anxiety are caused by environmental or situational distress related to disenchantment with one's life situation, lack of meaningful connections, unmet core emotional or attachment needs, a tragic event or other phase of life issue that can be better managed with reliable therapy.

If you are a military member, your life is unique and you need a support person who understands that uniqueness. You are part of a sub culture with its own language, norms and expectations that regular civilian life can be ignorant to, leaving you feeling disconnected and not understood. I lived and worked abroad with the Navy and Army for over 10 years servicing military families so I have a deeper and richer understanding of your experience.

There are three primary, underlying dimensions that characterize attachment styles and patterns (bonding methods). The first dimension is closeness, meaning the extent to which people feel comfortable being emotionally close and intimate with others. The second is dependence/avoidance, or the extent to which people feel comfortable depending on others and having partners depend on them. The third is anxiety, or the extent to which people worry their partners will abandon and reject them.