Therapists in Westport, CT

I am a caring, empathetic psychologist who has considerable skills helping people through crisis. I use exploration of past experience combined with practical, concrete techniques for how to with current issues. My strengths are my intuitive understanding of people and my ability to translate this understanding into a plan of action. I tailor each treatment to suit individual differences. I believe in being interactive and giving feedback and direction, but also believe in each individual's capacity to set their own goals and measures of success. I appreciate clients who come with a curiosity to understand themselves better.

Dr. Lauren Dobbs is a clinical psychologist specializing in assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and young adults. She has experience in outpatient, private practice, academic, and residential settings. She has provided therapeutic and evaluation services for those with learning disorders, executive functioning deficits, mood and anxiety disorders, high-risk and acting-out behaviors, and trauma-related disorders. She has extensive training in conducting psychological evaluations aimed at diagnosing learning disorders, ADHD, and developmental disorders, and is proficient in evaluating social and emotional functioning.

If you are concerned about your child or teenager, I can help. I work with children, teens and young adults who are struggling with emotional and social difficulties that may interfere with feeling more secure. Parents contact me for guidance with a broad range of issues including anxiety, relatedness issues, depression, school avoidance, learning challenges, trauma and grief. Together, we can demystify symptoms difficult to understand, so you and your child can feel deeply connected. I enjoy working with tweens, teens and young adults on identity and relationship issues, family conflict, school pressure, perfectionism, anxiety, depression, motivation and self-esteem.

I am a clinical psychologist specializing in trauma treatment with adolescents and adults in Westport, CT. Traditional psychotherapy approaches often come up short in healing trauma, as traumatic memories live in the body. I am a certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and EMDR practitioner. Both modalities that address stuck thoughts, physical sensations and memories related to trauma. If you are someone who has gained valuable insight from psychotherapy but continues to repeat familiar patterns or relive past experiences, these treatments may be helpful to you.

Do you have problems communicating with your partner? Has your relationship been impacted by an affair? Are you and your partner drifting apart? I work with you to achieve results in a fast and realistic way. My clients describe me as bright, compassionate and innovative. My goal is to support and empower you to make changes to improve your life. As a Marriage & Family Therapist I am experienced in utilizing the strengths you possess to make positive changes. I enjoy helping couples strengthen their marriages. I can help you with career changes, divorce, remarriage, childbirth, or other life transitions.

I assist my clients in moving from "Crisis To Capacity" with my approach, "The 5 Steps To Healthy Change." For CHILDREN: Adjustment therapy, behavioral and social skills training. For ADOLESCENTS: Managing the stressors and pressures of school, dating, family, and career. With ADULTS: Enhancing self-esteem, changing unhealthy life patterns and building successful personal, professional, parental, social and family lives. Expertise in supporting/sponsoring the CREATIVE PERSONALITY. For COUPLES: Communication skills and the reconfiguration of intimate partnerships for more satisfying relationships. With FAMILIES: Relationship dynamics, interpersonal skills and strategies to develop a stronger/healthier family culture.

By the time someone is seeking therapeutic support, issues have likely been simmering for some time and there is a tremendous need for relief. Clients often tell me that they have been trying to cope on their own and struggling with frustrations and emotions that don’t seem to resolve. A successful road to relief should be paved by a skilled clinician who can facilitate the gut level honesty necessary for change work that can finally allow you to have sustained relief.

Ms. Dobson draws from a long leadership background in behavioral health startups, and is the female founder and managing member of LIFT Wellness Group (outpatient psychotherapy company) and Lift Teen and Parent Wellness Centers (outpatient, intensive outpatient, and day program/PHP centers.) Lift Wellness Group, located in the heart of downtown Westport, has proudly served as Southwestern Connecticut's premier outpatient counseling, psychotherapy, medical and dietary group for seven years.

As a Sports Psychologist, Life Coach, and Business coach I have well over 50,000 hours of experience working with athletes and entrepreneurs. I am particularly effective with the mental game: helping athletes and business people develop much greater patience, poise, focus, clarity, and self-confidence! I guide many through difficult crises like performance anxiety, depression and communication issues working through obstacles along the way like fear of failure, fear of success, and many other forms of self-sabotage. You will develop greater poise, business acumen, enhanced performance, and career satisfaction.

Welcome! I am offering a virtual workshop! Please see details in the image below. Whether you’re starting your self-care journey or setting your child up for success, summer is a great time to work on therapeutic goals! It’s easy to become overwhelmed, get stuck, or not know where to start. Together we can use strategies to move forward. As a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified School Psychologist, I use a variety of therapeutic techniques. Additionally I incorporate mindfulness and coping skills to help you increase your ability to manage maladaptive behaviors and reduce feelings of anxiety, self-doubt, and depression.

If you are struggling to be the person you want to be, having relationship issues or managing anxiety and depression don't go through it alone. I am here to help you work through your concerns with understanding and compassion. Having been through difficulties in my own life I am empathic towards others who are struggling. We will work together to identify unhelpful patterns and how to change them. You will also have a confidential space to think through what is happening so that you can get from where you are to where you want to be. You deserve to have peace of mind and calm in your relationships.

Worry. Panic attacks. Highly uncomfortable feelings of anxiety itself. In the past, these and other problems were very hard to treat. People would spend years in therapy with minimal improvement

Our context changes and how we consciously adapt to these changes becomes a growth opportunity. I see the therapeutic process as an art form; like a sculpture that is carefully crafted by working together. We can transform crisis into opportunity, discover new perspectives and expand our sense of being.

For the past 25 years I have worked with families, schools, and communities across the country to promote physical, social, and emotional health and well-being. Personally and professionally I strive to help individuals in the broadest sense of the word (and world), and enhance their competence and confidence to achieve success in their education, relationships, and occupations.

I believe in the ever-present possibility of growth and the power of the therapeutic relationship to facilitate productive change in regard to what is not working or troublesome in people's lives. As a psychotherapist, I engage in confidential collaborative relationships grounded in respect, empathy, and safety in order to explore and help free people from patterns of functioning that are generally old, now maladaptive and personally limiting. Through achieving a deeper sense of self-understanding and personal growth, I believe in the increased capacity to live more satisfying emotional, social, and professional lives.

I integrate experiential therapies such as EMDR, AEDP, and somatic therapy to help individuals and couples who are challenged with anxiety, depression, relationship rupture, trauma, and attachment disturbance. I believe a holistic treatment method informed by breaking research in affective, developmental and interpersonal neuroscience can help people move from "stuck" to thriving. I have extensive experience working across a spectrum of identity and culture. I will lend my warmth, creativity, and energy with straightforward communication to tailor a comprehensive approach specific to you and your goals in therapy.

My philosophy as a practitioner is to partner with you to help build confidence and independence. Our work together is meant to bring you clarity, direction, strength and healing. Working together, we will discover your strengths and the personal resources that can help achieve your desired goals.