Therapy in Santa Cruz

Cognitive science and sociology are close cousins of the work I do now. One looks at how minds make sense of things—attention, memory, the stories we tell ourselves. The other looks at how people live together, and how culture, family and circumstance shape a life. I’ve always been fascinated by emotions, relationships, and behavior, and both of those lenses still show up in sessions.

That’s part of why I tailor the work to you rather than asking you to fit a method. Shame, longing and the wish to belong are close to universal, but your version of them is entirely specific, shaped by where you’ve lived, who raised you and what you’ve had to carry.

You don’t need a crisis to start therapy. You might be dealing with anxiety, stress and overwhelm, a life transition, relationship patterns that keep repeating, or something you can’t quite name yet. I work with adults on their own through individual therapy, and with partners in couples work, drawing on Internal Family Systems alongside psychodynamic, attachment-focused and mindfulness-based approaches.

Whatever brings you in, we’ll go at a pace that suits you. My approach is warm, kind and with humor, and I’m an active therapist—I’ll engage, ask questions and help you make sense of what’s coming up.

If you’re a student at UC Santa Cruz, my page on therapy for college students may be useful too. It explains how sessions can continue when the school year takes you between California and Massachusetts.

Individual sessions are 45 minutes and couples sessions are 60, all by secure video. You’ll need a private space and a reliable connection, and we’ll agree on a backup plan in case the video drops. Whether you’re downtown, up in the mountains or out toward Watsonville, the requirements are the same.

Because I’m licensed in both California and Massachusetts, we can also keep meeting if you happen to be in Massachusetts at the time of a session. Everyone starts with a free 15-minute consultation by video, with no paperwork and no pressure.

If you’d like to see whether we’re a good fit, you can request a free 15-minute consultation. My page on therapy in California has more about working together anywhere in the state, and you can read about my training and background on the Meet Lauren page.

If you’d like to read up first, my guides cover what a first session looks like, how out-of-network benefits work, and the approaches I draw on.