Lauren Acarino

Currently, I am seeking clients who have a degree of insight and understanding as to what they would like to work on in therapy and perhaps a sense of how a problem began to arise. I am taking a little bit of my own medicine to step away from some work that I found to be so stressful that it was difficult to achieve a work- life balance and focus on clients that have an internal drive and and motivation to put work into therapy and focus on a problem they have identified. I would like to work with a client who has a sense of what they would like to work on in therapy and develop more tools for their toolbox. My application of counseling psychology focuses on evidence based practices, integrating scientific principles with the warmth and empathy that you need to actively achieve your goals in counseling. My philosophy and foundation of psychology focuses on identifying the components of our lives are not producing the results we want, and consistently targeting those thoughts and behaviors until our goals align with choices and behaviors. I believe that anxiety and depression are a shared experience that we all encounter in our lives during periods of increased stress, and that counseling is a helpful tool for anyone when those experiences last longer than we'd like or feel overwhelming. In 2010 I graduated from Fordham University with a Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling, becoming a licensed professional counselor (LPC) in a variety of settings. Over my career in psychology I have worked in family focused private practices specializing in the child, adolescent and young adult population. My work focused on management of generalized anxiety, major depressive disorder, suicidal ideations and behavioral issues. In 2015 I was commissioned as a field artillery officer in the US Army, when women were introduced to combat roles. After leaving the Army, I briefly worked in DOD counseling services before joining the US Department of Veterans Affairs where I focused my work on complex trauma/ PTSD, treatment resistant depression, grief / bereavement and race based stress/trauma. I have worked with the full spectrum of ages and enjoy working with young children to the geriatric population. Oftentimes, I use a backbone or foundational structure of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and I enjoy implementing Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD and principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). All of these treatments can be adapted for children or adolescents. Aside from implementing scientifically validated treatments, I am a strong proponent of using humor in the therapeutic process when able/ appropriate (I do not think that humor or levity is avoidance) and it is important to me that I know much more about each client than the issue that brings them to therapy. A whole person perspective is a necessary component of understanding who you are aside from a diagnosis. Therapy is usually quite hard work, but working together to activate motivation and developing alternative strategies to process thoughts and emotions, we can accomplish monumental tasks.