We recently connected with Laurel Roberts-Meese and have shared our conversation below.
Laurel, appreciate you joining us today. Have you ever experienced a times when your entire field felt like it was taking a U-Turn?
The pandemic was a U-turn for so many fields, and perhaps none more so than mental health and therapy. While online therapy was previously dismissed and belittled as a less-than approach, the pandemic overturned that notion. Not only is online therapy effective according to all the data, there are some real benefits to accessing care from the comfort of home. It allows for greater privacy, fewer interruptions due to traffic and health, and access to a specialist who doesn’t live near you. There’s also the emotional benefit of being in a place of comfort and safety when doing the difficult work of looking inward and confronting parts of yourself that aren’t where you’d like them to be.
In my practice, we offer a very specific trauma therapy called EMDR. It’s an intense but highly effective approach to eliminating triggers and distress. Originally developed and studied on combat veterans, its applications are quite broad today. Nonetheless, confronting your trauma is brave, often draining work. We’ve seen it work incredibly well online. And as a bonus, clients don’t have to go out and navigate traffic afterwards. Instead, they can make themselves a snack, play with their pet, and regroup.
Laurel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’ve always known I was going to be a therapist, but I didn’t expect to be running a multi-clinician practice that operates entirely virtually. But the demand from our clients is really there. We serve busy, stressed professionals all over California & Florida who don’t have time to drive to an office, sit in a waiting room, and then drive back. I’ve always been fascinated with relationships, personal growth, and the interplay with mental health. As a holistic therapist focusing on trauma in driven professionals, I see fascinating stories of pain and resilience play out every day. It’s highly personal and inspiring to see people become the best version of themselves.
Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?
Absolutely. I absolutely love what I do. Sometimes people make comments that imply my job is hard and must be exhausting. And yes, there are hard moments. But mostly it’s energizing and inspiring.
If I had to do anything differently, I might have pursued a license type that allows to practice across state lines more easily. But that’s a problem I couldn’t have anticipated 15 years ago!
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
Lifelong love of learning and true compassion for people. Something I believe wholeheartedly is that if you’re looking hard enough, all human behavior makes sense. Sure, it may look nonsensical or even self-destructive on the outside, but when you truly know someone and understand their hopes and fears, everything makes sense.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.laureltherapy.net
- Instagram: @laureltherapycollective
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laureltherapycollective
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/laurel-therapy/?viewAsMember=true
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzmtQve6GOsJt2z9XZ02nZA
Image Credits
Miss Theo