I’m Lauren Barker, an outpatient therapist licensed to see clients throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, and Ohio via telehealth. Through a combination of lived experience and my work with clients, I’ve found particular passion in working with eating disorders and body image concerns (including parents of kids with eating disorders), complex and traumatic grief, chronic illness, and trauma. I also particularly love and have several years of experience working with other mental health professionals, especially those with a history of disordered eating or body image concerns.

I use a trauma-informed, relational, and person-centered approach, and often pull techniques from CBT, IFS, ACT, and polyvagal theory to help you move towards your goals. I utilize somatic techniques and also lean into exploring values/core beliefs that may be triggering your presenting concerns. I’m trained in Brainspotting for deeper processing and trauma work, and am an Embodied Recovery and HAES-aligned Practitioner.

Ultimately, I firmly believe that healthy relationships are healing, and this can start in therapy. I aim to always provide safety, connection, and attunement so that you have the space to get to the root of what’s bringing you to therapy and make meaningful and lasting progress towards your goals.

You deserve to feel seen and valued. As your therapist I will validate and challenge you where appropriate—with a little humor mixed in! My approach is warm, inquisitive, evidence-based, and highly personalized. My goal is to create a relationship with my clients that is built on trust and hope, so that what feels heavy can be made lighter.

”What we don’t need in the midst of struggle is shame for being human.” -Brene Brown