Specialties

I specialize in helping individuals, couples, and families move through the suffering caused by trauma, addiction, parenting, health challenges, work stress, loss, and more. I know much of it firsthand. I also know that radical, life-shifting change is possible at any moment.

A note on the specialties, and on diagnoses in general: I believe we are guided by what plagues us, though not defined by it. Ultimately, I am called to work with those who want to listen to their heart's deepest voice, regardless of what this looks like on the surface.

ABOUT LAARA

My education has been a salad of experiential and academic learning, grounded in a wide array of clinical and experiential practices. In addition to my formal schooling to become a licensed therapist at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington and National and Southwest Universities in California, I have extensively studied meditation, T'ai Chi, Landmark Education, breathwork and I am a certified Dance and Movement therapist. In the last decade I have trained extensively in couples and individual therapy practices: Gottman Couples Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy, Dan Wile’s Collaborative Couples therapy and AEDP – Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy. I also give great credit to one of my oldest teachers: my own experiences of success and failure and the unexpected support that can show up at just the right moment and to the 12 steps of recovery.

WHAT TO EXPECT

You are encouraged to speak with me at any time about any questions you may have regarding your treatment plan, fees or insurance. Please reach out, I look forward to meeting you.

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TESTIMONIALS

Laara Israel really helped my husband and I learn to communicate in order to make our marriage stronger. After 10 years of marriage, you would think we would know how to tell each other that we loved one another, but we weren’t doing it well. Navy life and deployments made it rough. Laara helped us to see ourselves and how we were expressing our wants and needs to each other. She gave us techniques to use that helped us be open to each other again. And she integrated our faith in our counseling sessions, which we really appreciated. I was really resistant to counseling at first, but I’m so glad that I went. It has made such a difference in our family. Thanks Laara!

Laara…”I want you to know how much I appreciate all your efforts, wisdom, and insights. I do not believe that I could have broken through my denial to treat my addiction without your patient but consistent efforts. The decrease of my appointments with you has only to do with my assessment of my improving mental health, a tribute to your success. In many ways, you have enabled me to find the path to peace I was/am so desperately searching for.”

RTG, 2023