Laura Westbrook, LPC

Laura Westbrook is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) who creates a warm, accepting environment where clients can explore change at their own pace. She centers her work on a person-centered model that treats each individual as the expert on their life, offering guidance, empathy, and practical tools rather than prescriptive answers. Laura often weaves humor and cultural touchstones such as literature, music, and film into sessions to help people connect with coping strategies that fit their personalities and lifestyles.

Her path into counseling began with a concern for the lack of mental health care in the criminal justice system, and she has substantial experience working with nonprofit organizations focused on addictions and trauma. That work included supporting both male and female populations across the lifespan, and it reinforced her commitment to accessible, competent care for people from all backgrounds.

Laura enjoys learning clients' stories and witnessing the courage it takes to open up. She provides support to people from the LGBTQ+ community, those with varied religious perspectives, and individuals living with HIV or other chronic health conditions that affect daily life. She also brings experience addressing issues such as attachment and abandonment, codependency, grief, substance use, and relationship or intimacy concerns.

Raised in California, Laura attended the University of Alabama for her undergraduate studies and earned her Master’s and Specialist degrees from the University of Florida. Laura’s training and experience inform a collaborative, respectful approach that aims to help clients find meaningful, sustainable change.

Therapeutic Approaches Adapted for Online Work

Laura integrates client-centered therapy and attachment-based approaches into online care. Client-centered therapy emphasizes the client as the expert on their own experience, with the therapist offering empathy, reflection, and support to help clarify goals and make changes. This approach suits individuals navigating life transitions, relationship concerns, or questions of identity. Attachment-based therapy explores patterns of connection formed in relationships and how those patterns affect current interactions; it can be especially helpful for people facing abandonment, intimacy issues, or difficulties forming secure bonds.

Laura also incorporates mindfulness practices to help people manage stress, anxiety, and difficult emotions by increasing present-moment awareness and practical coping skills. Choosing the right blend of methods is part of the therapeutic process, and Laura works collaboratively with each person to tailor techniques to their needs, goals, and personal preferences rather than applying a one-size-fits-all model.

Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, which make it easier to fit care into busy schedules and reach therapists from different locations. These formats support continuity of care, flexible scheduling, and a range of communication styles so clients can engage in ways that feel most comfortable and effective for them.