Individual Counselling for Adults
Dr. Lauren's professional training and experience has provided the opportunity to work with hundreds of clients - each one with unique concerns, mental health conditions, identities, and cultural backgrounds. Dr. Lauren specializes in providing individual counselling to adult populations. She is committed to providing evidence-based treatment to address client concerns and uses research-proven therapy orientations including: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), and Prolonged Exposure (PE).
Currently, Dr. Lauren's practice is focused on serving individual adults (18 years or older). She does not provide couples counselling.
At the present time, Dr. Lauren does not provide: addiction/substance abuse counselling, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment, eating disorder treatment, or counselling for work-related injury (WCB) cases or those cases with legal/court involvement. For more info on what specialty services Dr. Lauren does provide, please see below!
Actualize Specialty Areas
Over-Achievers, Approval Seekers, Perfectionists, & People Pleasers
Has anxiety impacted your self-esteem and left you feeling “not good enough"? Frustrated that anxiety is interfering with your work, relationships, and/or happiness? Approval seeking and people pleasing can help professionals, executives, and performers reach high levels of success in their careers and lives. However, it can also come at a cost of high anxiety, depression, stress, and even burnout.
Sometimes high achievers can feel as though they're not measuring up despite their successes. Always chasing accomplishments, trying to uphold unrelenting standards, and proving “likeability" or “worth" to others can also result in interpersonal problems. Sometimes trying to be “good", “the best", or even “good enough" can impact the sustainability of work relationships, friendships, and romantic relationships. In an effort to reduce anxiety and feel “good enough", some high achievers end up putting their own needs behind the needs of their clients, patients, customers, loved ones, partner, etc. For some, it feels wrong and uncomfortable to “say no" or “set boundaries" when trying to prove they can “do it all" and/or “be it all". Actualize specializes in helping high-performing professionals overcome these concerns!
Do you ALSO happen to be a current or aspiring therapist/helping professional? If so... click here for more!
- Anxiety / Performance Anxiety / Stress
- Low Self-Esteem / Low Self-Worth / Self-Confidence Concerns
- Approval Seeking & Reassurance Seeking
- Negative Self-Talk (aka. Self-Criticism)
- Procrastination & Avoidance
- Guilt & Shame
- Overworking & Overcompensating
- Perfectionism
- Difficulty Tolerating Uncertainty
- Codependency in Relationships
- A Sense of Over-responsibility (for problems that aren't yours)
- Relationship Problems (at work, home, or in romance)
- Lack of Satisfaction (at work, home, or in romance)
- Difficulties Communicating Assertively & Saying No
- Difficulties Setting & Enforcing Boundaries
- Difficulties with Being Vulnerable & Asking for Support
- Learning To Adaptively Express Emotions & Emotional Needs
Sound like you?
Contact Actualize today to book your free 15 minute phone consultation.
Trauma & Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Experiencing trauma or witnessing trauma can change your outlook on life, your feelings about yourself, your view of the world, and prevent you from engaging in the things you need to do or want to do. Most often, Dr. Lauren helps individuals process previous traumas using Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure (PE), or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy procedures.
Dr. Lauren has a special interest in working with survivors of adult sexual assault trauma. Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is one of the only specialized trauma treatments specifically developed to treat the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in sexual assault survivors. Dr. Lauren is proud to offer CPT treatment and to be recognized as a verified CPT provider.
- Unwanted Memories/Flashbacks of Stressful Experience
- Disturbing Dreams of the Stressful Experience
- Strong Physical Reactions to Difficult Memories
- Avoiding Situations Related to the Stressful Experience
- Blaming Yourself or Someone Else
- Strong Feelings of Anger, Fear, Horror, Guilt, Shame
- Irritable, Angry Outbursts following Stressful Experience
- Feeling Jumpy, Superalert, On Guard
- Mood and/or Anxiety Changes following Stressful Experience
- Pain or Somatic Sensations related to Stressful Experience
Interested in trauma treatment?
Contact Actualize today to book your free 15 minute phone consultation.
Anxiety Disorders & Related Conditions
Have experiences of persistent or intrusive anxiety started to disrupt your day to day life? Are you constantly stuck thinking about "what ifs" and "worst case scenarios" even when you know it's not helpful? Do you experience physical symptoms of anxiety? Regardless of whether you believe you have anxiety symptoms or whether you have been formally diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, help is available!
For some, anxiety symptoms can come “out of nowhere". Other times, life transitions and major life events can result in anxiety difficulties. Very often, anxiety can lead to changes in behavior - including avoiding anxiety provoking situations or overcompensating (for example, over-preparing and over-planning for situations). Often times, anxious thoughts and feelings can stop individuals from engaging in activities they need to be doing or activities that they used to enjoy. Actualize can help! Most often, Dr. Lauren helps individuals manage anxiety through cognitive-behavioral techniques and exposure based interventions. Dr. Lauren is also trained in exposure and response prevention (ERP) for OCD!
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Panic Disorder & Panic Attacks
- Health / Illness Anxiety
- Social Anxiety & Social Anxiety Disorder
- Adjustment Disorder
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder
- Agoraphobia & Other Phobias
- Frequent Worry & Rumination
- Avoidance of Anxiety-Provoking Situations
Ready to start?
Contact Actualize today to book your free 15 minute phone consultation.
We cannot change, we cannot move away from what we are, until we thoroughly accept what we are. Then change seems to come about almost unnoticed.