Hi, I’m Lauren Abbott
(she/her)
Licensed therapist, trauma specialist, recovering perfectionist.
I'm probably not what you're picturing when you picture a trauma therapist.
I don't do the "smile-and-nod" thing. I ask direct questions. If you swear, I might join you. And if you want to laugh about the things that are objectively terrible, there's zero judgment from me.
But what is also true about me is that I can sit with the toughest stuff you’ve got. You will not say something that makes me flustered or need to manage my reaction instead of having your own.
I might be a nerd, for sure, but I’m also rock steady where it matters most.
How I got here.
I've been where you are now.
I know what it's like to spend hours on Psychology Today, adding filters and reading bios, only to come up empty or settle for someone who specializes in “everything”. It took me a while to find the right therapist. When I did, things finally started to change.
I also know what it's like to be vulnerable after years of holding everything in just to get by. I'd wanted to make changes for a long time. I just didn't know where or how to start.
So I know what it costs to say the hard thing out loud, and I know what it's worth. That's how I got here. Like you, I had to start somewhere.
I've been where you are now.
Where the name Unstuck Therapy came from
Stuck is the word my clients actually use. Stuck in a loop. Stuck in time. Frozen. Trapped. Stuck in a version of themselves that made sense a long time ago.
I wanted a name that resonated with my clients’ lived experience. (“Unstuck” beat out “Unfrozen Therapy” and “No Longer Trapped Therapy”, which I think we can all agree was the right call.)
You come in stuck. The goal is to get you moving again, and living as the person you actually are.
Who I tend to work with
My clients are usually the people who never quite fit the mold they were handed.
A lot of them have a fantasy series they could talk about for hours, a game they've sunk a questionable amount of time into, or a brain that lights up the second it's handed a complicated puzzle. (Same here. Probably not a coincidence that figuring out what's really going on underneath is my favorite part of the job.)
Many of them come in apologizing for taking up time. You don't have to do that here.
In therapy with me you can be you
☼
In therapy with me you can be you ☼
Training and background
I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California, LMFT #164034. I see clients in person in Anaheim Hills and online anywhere in California.
I earned my degree at Azusa Pacific University, and I've been seeing clients since 2021 in school-based settings, community mental health, and group private practice.
I'm trained in EMDR and Brainspotting and continue building on both. Beyond that, I let my curiosity run wild. I'm always learning new skills and techniques, so what I bring into the room fits the person in front of me.
A few things that matter to me a lot
You will not be asked to explain or defend who you are. LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent clients are welcome to be fully themselves here.
You can talk about your family, your faith, or the lack of it, without me judging or moralizing.
I'll tell you what I'm thinking and why. And if I don't know something, I'll say so and do the work to know more about it (without putting the burden on you to educate me).
If this all sounds good to you…
Start with a free phone consultation. We'll talk about what's been going on for you, and figure out together whether I'm the right person to help you with it.
