Laura works with adolescents and adults, with a particular interest in adults who were removed from their birth families, and either raised in statutory care environments, or who were adopted. Laura believes that an inter-generational pattern of trauma is not inevitable, and as one of her long-term therapy clients recently told her, “I don’t have to live a life that was determined for me before I was even born”.
Laura’s main therapeutic models are Mentalization Based Therapy (MBT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Laura’s practice always includes reference to the way that distress is stored, and manifests, in the body. Since working at Beacon House, Laura has embraced the opportunity to learn from the wealth of creative talent surrounding her, and as a result her clients now benefit from many different ways in which to tell their stories!
In addition to her work with individual clients, Laura consults to multi-agency professional networks who work with complex, and sometimes high-risk cases. Laura supports professionals to develop psychologically informed understandings of their cases, allowing them to identify the priority needs for intervention, and how to best address these needs. Laura helps teams to understand and manage the emotional and psychological impact of working with families where great responsibility is held by statutory services.
Having recently completed her Systems Centred Training, Laura is well-equipped to support teams of professionals, whether in the social and health care arena, or the corporate world, to work together thoughtfully and effectively, capitalising on what every individual in the system has to contribute.
Laura’s clients say that she is warm, ‘normal’, funny (not always when she means to be!) and authentic.