Lauren Garcia

I have extensive experience supporting in managing Anxiety and responses to trauma, in which I help build awareness of emotions, assist in reframing the thought patterns that provoke it, and address helpful coping tools that support with mind-body connection.

My background has comprised in helping support teens gain an understanding of their thoughts and emotions in response to difficult life experiences. Teens often act out their emotions, so I support in them gaining a healthy perspective on their life experience so that they can begin to respond more adaptively. Adolescent issues range from life trauma, school issues/stress, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, relationships, life transitions, and grief/loss.

I support in developing a positive self-concept by assisting in developing an alternate life narrative and lens in which you may see yourself in relation to others and the world. I address empowering more internal resiliency to build confidence in responding to life challenges and stress. I do incorporate healthy habit building to begin steps in promoting internal personal growth.

My primary foundation lies heavily within Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The premise of this practice holds to the connection between thoughts, feelings, and our actions, in which by shifting the way we perceive our life experience, we can inherently change how we feel and respond to it. This practice I have utilized throughout the span of my career as a healer, having witnessed the impact it has on transforming a person's relationship with life challenges and their emotional responses.

I utilize a Psychodynamic approach alongside CBT to support in gaining an understanding of cause and effect, in which building a conscious awareness of the dynamic in which we function serves to grow a better understanding of our life journey, as well as life experiences. This provides an opportunity for more in-depth growth within therapy, and utilize this for therapy to examine issues beyond just the surface.

I incorporate a trauma-focused lens deriving from Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). This practice closely examines teens, families, adults, and children’s recent or previous traumatic life experiences, and provides substantial tools in regulating the emotions that surface when this occurs. It helps in managing the symptoms associated with having experienced a trauma, as well as the associated thoughts that have generalized to how we view relationships and the world.

I support with helpful tools in which to manage life stressors and recover from challenging life experiences through use of mindfulness/grounding exercises, and having a means to navigate through your own internal dialogue that may lead you feeling stressed. I focus on building internal resiliency to take on the unpredictability of life.

In use of Narrative Therapy you remain the expert on your life, and you are able to have a more external lens over your life narrative to develop a more empowered ability to shift your perspective. I have utilized Narrative Therapy for many years and throughout my training as a way to derive meaning from both the past and the present.