Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laura Moreno. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Laura , appreciate you joining us today. Can you recount a time when the advice you provided to a client was really spot on? (Please note this response is for education/entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as advice for the reader)

I specialize in pre-marital counseling, marital therapy, and individual therapy. The most important and best advice I can give to a client is that it starts with you, not your ex, not your mother-in-law, or your neighbor. The work comes down to you. People need to realize that we cannot control anyone else but ourselves.

How we respond or react is entirely up to us and is our responsibility to manage. For example, I had someone in my life blame me for their behavior. This is a great example of something not taking ownership or responsibility for their behavior.

We are in Nashville, right? So there is a lot of dating going on. I tell my single clients when they keep coming in with being disappointed with the guys they are going out with, that their picker is broken. Asking the question and raising awareness around why he or she keeps choosing the same type of partner. It starts with you.

Therapy is hard work, and a lot of people do not last because it requires them to look at themselves. Therapy is not for the faint of heart and for people who truly care about getting better and wanting their life to look healthier, feel healthier, and behave in healthier ways.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi everyone, my name is Laura Moreno and I am originally from California. I moved here before the California boom back in 2014! I just recently got married to my best friend last May. We and our fur baby are based in Nashville, TN.

My background is in the entertainment industry. I studied theatrical acting at AMDA in New York, and then moved back to Los Angeles to work in film and television. My heart will always prefer the stage. I also started performing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles and still perform here in and around Nashville.

Around my early twenties, I threw myself into self-help books and became a mental health advocate. I have all the Cloud and Townsend books that are out there! I wanted to learn how to have healthier relationships and to be a healthier self. It wasn’t until God brought me to Nashville that my real healing journey began. When COVID hit, I decided to go back to college and get my bachelor’s degree in psychology, and then decided why stop there, and went on to get my masters in Marriage and Family Therapy.

I specifically want to help individuals and couples learn how to have healthier relationships and to bring down the divorce rates. I also want to bring more awareness around divorce and how challenging it can be for children, young or adult, as it is and can be very damaging to the family system. I am a huge advocate for finding your authentic self first. Oftentimes, people end up with a spouse who our broken and our unprocessed pain self chooses and not choosing from our healthy, highest functioning self. The work starts in singlehood. I love advocating and encouraging women specifically to get out there and own their life with no apologies! Never settle, get a dog instead.

What sets me apart from other therapists is that I am in the process of learning equine therapy and also creating my own therapeutic approach called improv therapy. I find improv very beneficial with couples. I enjoy helping singles navigate this crazy thing called dating. As someone in the creative and entertainment industry, I also want to be an advocate for mental health in the entertainment industry. A podcast and book are already in the works, so please keep an eye out for them.

What I am most proud of is that I did what I didn’t think was possible for me. I moved to a city where I knew absolutely no one back in 2014, I went back to college in my mid-thirties, and I got married in my late thirties! I share this because a big way of discovering your authentic self is by getting out of your comfort zone and out of your own way. Being comfortable with the uncomfortable. My world completely changed when I moved to Nashville, and it has been the hardest but most beautiful and rewarding transition I have made in my life. Trust the promptings God puts on your heart, and to my ladies…trust your gut!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

That I had to prove myself to be loved or accepted. For years, I thought I had to be perfect, act perfect, and look perfect. That I had to be there for everyone, even if it meant at my detriment. Not respecting my time or feelings, but being there for everyone else. That I had to constantly be striving and “hustling”. The lie that I had to prove myself. Until later in life, I asked myself, Who am I doing this for? Does this bring me joy? Are these people my friends? Who are the people in my corner?

This started back in childhood for me. I felt I had to fight to be seen. I fell into the therapist role in my family, being there for everyone else, not learning what it looked like to have someone there for me. I did not get the emotional support I needed growing up. I felt unseen and unheard. This carried into my adulthood, and it wasn’t until I started my own journey of healing and meeting my husband. My husband taught me what unconditional love is. That I can be whoever and however, and he would still love and accept me. Accept me for all my broken and unbroken parts.

Throughout my journey of self-discovery and learning to love myself just as I am, without putting any conditions on myself, that is when my world started to change. I started leaving places and situations that were not serving me anymore. Friends whom I thought were friends, in reality were not, and I learned to distance myself from unsafe people. I learned how to advocate for myself better. I started meeting my authentic self.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Moving to Nashville has been the most challenging, lonely, and difficult place to navigate for me. I know God brought me to Nashville to heal and restore. I had no idea what was about to happen when i decided to pack up my car, through everything I had in storage and drive out to Tennessee. I knew no one. Having no job lined up, I just felt I had to go to Nashville. What turned into a 6 month trip, is now almost 10 years.

I found my dog here, I bought my first home here, I went back to school here, I met my husband here, and I got to meet Amy Grant! But for so many years in the beginning, it was so difficult. Making friends was hard for me. I tried dating and it was awful. I share this bit in my stand-up comedy, but I went on a date with a guy who told me his testosterone levels! After that, I got a dog. I took time to focus on my life and myself, and it was the best decision I made for myself.

I learned I do not have to have it all figured out. I learned that some people are meant for just a period, and good friends are for a lifetime. I learned that friends can become your family. Doing the thing you fear most means you should do it. Doing the hard things and trust me, I know how hard it can get, but persevering anyway shows just how resilient you are. We are capable of the things God puts on our hearts, we just have to have faith, trust, and patience during the process. Easier said than done, I know!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @laura.e.hibbard
• Facebook: Laura Hibbard
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@laurahibbard7310

Image Credits

James Isaac Jones Photography