Lauren Pavelle, LCSW
As your therapist, I feel honored to be a part of your story. Whether you are searching for meaning, clarity, increased fulfillment, or relief from specific symptoms or stressors, I consider it a privilege to support you in your process of growth and healing.
Above all, I privilege authenticity, transparency and a sense of agency in the therapeutic process. I am passionate about challenging normative, structurally reinforced assumptions about therapy, namely that it involves a relationship between a “sick” person and a “healthy” one. I view myself not as an expert- someone tasked with helping to “fix” something wrong- but as a co-creator of relational space that holds potential for new ways of being and relating to others. My clinical style and approach has been described as warm, genuine, direct, and actively engaged.
I believe in the value of deepened awareness of our experience through exploration of both conscious and unconscious processes, and I see the therapeutic relationship as a primary tool for such exploration. Increased insight into the origins and maintenance of patterns contributing to distress, discontentment, conflict or a sense of stagnancy can help illuminate paths towards living with greater satisfaction and vitalization.
I received my master’s degree in social work from The University of Chicago and have completed extensive post-graduate training in psychodynamic theory and practice. I will also incorporate skills-based work into treatment, using elements from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, when useful and appropriate. I have years of experience working in higher levels of care, though my primary passion is in depth-oriented work with older adolescents, young adults and adults.