Lauren Mahoney (She/her)

Low self-esteem often develops from years of criticism, perfectionism, people pleasing, relationships, or experiences that shaped how you see yourself. Together, we'll identify the beliefs, emotional patterns, and coping strategies that have kept self-doubt alive, explore how they developed, and determine whether they still serve you today. I help clients develop a more stable sense of self, set healthier boundaries, become less dependent on external validation, and your own make choices.

Women's mental health is often shaped by the many roles they hold and the expectations placed upon them. I help women navigate motherhood, caregiving, relationship challenges, reproductive transitions, burnout, and identity shifts by exploring long-standing relational patterns, self-sacrificing tendencies, perfectionism, and the beliefs that keep them feeling responsible for everyone else's well-being. We'll make sense of these experiences and explore new ways of responding to them.

Living with a chronic illness or chronic pain often changes far more than your physical health. I help clients process the grief, uncertainty, anxiety, identity shifts, and relationship challenges that can accompany ongoing medical conditions. We'll explore the parts of living with chronic illness that often go unseen, including the loss of independence, changing identities, shifting relationships, medical trauma, uncertainty about the future, and the grief of adjusting to the unknown.

My work is grounded in the belief that many of the ways we relate to ourselves and others develop through our earliest relationships and life experiences. I help clients recognize recurring interpersonal patterns, attachment strategies, self-protective behaviors, and relational expectations that influence communication, boundaries, conflict, and emotional intimacy. Greater awareness of these patterns creates opportunities for more authentic and fulfilling relationships.

CBT helps identify the connection between thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and core beliefs. I help clients recognize cognitive distortions, identify recurring thinking patterns, and uncover beliefs that contribute to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and relationship difficulties. Using cognitive restructuring and behavioral interventions, clients learn to evaluate automatic thoughts and develop more balanced, effective ways of responding.

I use ACT to help clients develop a different relationship with difficult thoughts, emotions, and uncertainty instead of becoming consumed by them. Rather than trying to eliminate distress, we identify the ways avoidance, overthinking, perfectionism, people pleasing, reassurance seeking, or the need for certainty have narrowed your life. ACT helps clients become more psychologically flexible so they can make intentional choices that align with their values, even when discomfort is present.