Lauren LagunaLMSW

During the first session, I like to discuss my client's interests, strengths, mental health history and treatment history, and what my client is looking to get out of therapy. Together, we make clear goals for our work together and make a plan on how to reach those goals. Those goals can be anything; from wanting to build insight into behaviors (why do I do ___) to wanting to reduce panic attacks, to wanting to improve relationships, to wanting to change your own behaviors.

My first career was in the film industry, with the intention of becoming a professional filmmaker. While working in the industry, I quickly realized that my favorite part of the job was coaching actors - helping them work through their own personal struggles in order for them to be present in the scene we were filming. At the same time, I started volunteering as a Crisis Counselor at a crisis hotline. From there, it became obvious that what I looked forward to most in life was helping people.

That pain is inevitable, but suffering doesn't have to be. How you perceive your pain is what causes suffering. The stories we tell ourselves about our pain and the judgments that surround it create our suffering. Change your perception, and end suffering.

I am a psychotherapist at Resilience Lab and a Psychiatric Social Worker at Bellevue Hospital. I completed my graduate internships at Bellevue Hospital's Adult Outpatient Psychiatric Clinic where I received training in DBT, CBT, mindfulness, and psychodynamic modalities. My first graduate internship was at an elementary school working with children with special needs.