Lauren (she/her) is a fat, queer, neurodiverse human of mixed British, French, Irish and Mi’kmaq (Qalipu First Nation/St. George’s Indian Band) ancestry.  She grew up in the Lower Mainland of BC on the unceded territories of the Katzie, Tsawwassen,  Kwantlen, Semiahmoo, W̱SÁNEĆ, Stz’uminus and Stó:lō.  She has been a visitor of Amiskwaciwâskahikan / ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ since 2007.  Prior to her role as a psychologist, Lauren worked in mental health crisis, social justice education and at various community based non-profits.   

Lauren is passionate about connecting with people around issues related to our relationship with food and body, queer and trans identity, neurodiversity and building a loving and trusting relationship with ourselves.  She is proud to be a Certified Body Trust Provider.   

As a feminist psychologist she is systemic and holistic in her approach to therapy and leads with empathy and compassion.  She firmly believes the relationship is integral to the counselling process and shows up authentically in her sessions with clients.  She prioritizes consent, transparency and collaboration.  She is passionate about making counselling a space for all bodies and actively works to fill gaps within our private mental health care system.  She maintains a body positive, sex positive, poly, queer and trans friendly, safe(r) space within her practice.

She embraces the principles of Cultural Humility. She engages in an on-going reflexive practice of her privileges, biases and relationship to culture and the ways in which these show up in the counselling room.  She approaches her work through a lens of not knowing and works to dismantle the power imbalance between counsellor and client.

Lauren is an avid life-long learner.  She is currently a student of Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy (IFOT).  Recently she has attended Beginner I/II/III training in Somatic Experiencing, completed a session with Black Mental Health Canada on Africentric Approaches to Mental Health and with maskihkiy wellness on Indigenous Wisdoms in Practice: Land-Based Tools for Wellness.  She is committed to deepening her understanding of anti-racist, anti-oppressive and decolonized practice.  

When she isn’t working you can find her engaging in several hobbies that change frequently.  Currently she is learning ASL, sewing, how to sing and participating in competitive puzzling.  She is also an unapologetic lover of cats.