Laura Held, AMFT, APCC


ASSOCIATE MFT 137819, ASSOCIATE PCC 12624
SUPERVISED BY MELINDA OLSEN LMFT 111165

  • Feeling stuck and looking to connect with your authentic self

  • Hoping to deepen your connection with your partner

  • Noticing and changing patterns in relationships that may have been passed down from previous generations

  • A parent hoping to do things differently than your parents

  • Experiencing grief (death of loved one, end of a relationship, career changes, embracing new identity, loss of home)

  • Going through a life transition 

Who I Work With: Those Who Are:

My Specialties

  • Relationship challenges

  • Life transitions

  • Parenting

  • Grief

  • Anxiety

  • Identity exploration

  • Codependency

  • Multigenerational trauma

About

I’m a pre-licensed therapist who helps couples who feel disconnected or at odds find their way back to each other, and supports individuals helping to understand themselves better and turn self criticism into self compassion.

I approach my work in a collaborative and adaptive way, leaning into each client’s intuition and energy to guide our work together. In my life and in my work as a therapist, I have found that we all have a story. Chapters of that story may have been written by our family, our community, society, and our younger selves. I help my clients feel empowered to re-imagine and re-write parts of their story to feel more aligned with their authentic selves. 

I work with my clients to explore and uncover the patterns and beliefs that may be causing distress in their relationships with themselves and others. I believe in the power of having a space to be completely heard, validated, and honored for whatever is showing up in the room that day (mistakes, flaws, and all). And in doing that, space opens up for honest exploration and meaningful growth.

My practice blends Narrative Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Mindfulness, Emotion Focused Therapy, and a Strengths-based, Trauma-informed perspective. I am also trained in Brainspotting, a powerful therapeutic approach that helps access and resolve emotional pain, trauma, and other challenges by working directly with the brain-body connection.

  • Picking fruit and veggies from my garden

  • My hammock

  • A great book

  • Traveling

  • Hiking & strength training

  • Nerding out over brain science

What Makes Me Come Alive

Certifications/ Advanced Training/ Memberships

Education

  • MA in Counseling with Marriage and Family Therapy emphasis, Palo Alto University

  • BA in Psychology and Mass Communications from UC Berkeley

  • Brainspotting Level 2

  • Grief training from Bill Wilson’s Centre for Living with Dying

  • CAMFT member

Los Gatos & Virtual ┃ Laura@havenlycounselingcollective.com