​Laura Torres LPC
Coaching and Psychotherapy
I have been providing counseling services since 2008, and have a wide variety of experience, including work with children, adolescents, and adults; short and long term therapy; individual, group, couples, and family therapy; and outpatient and residential settings. I went to undergrad at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC. After living and traveling in Central America, I returned to North Carolina to pursue my Master’s degree in Community Counseling from Appalachian State University. I received a post-graduate certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy, Level I Hakomi Certification, and a year post-graduate training in Gestalt Psychotherapy. I am also a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 230) and a Board Certified Coach (BCC) trained through Institute of Life Coach Training. I have been a Licensed Professional Counselor in North Carolina, since June 2012. I am also currently part of Tara Mohr's Playing Big Facilitators Training, which is all about supporting women to step into their power.
I view therapy as a partnership in which YOU are the expert on your experience and I am the expert on supporting you in connecting to and listening to your Self and shifting your focus from problems to solutions. Many of my clients come into therapy feeling stuck or disconnected, having exhausted all ideas for change, yet knowing and trusting that change is possible, just not knowing how to create it. I will partner with you to identify what will be different once you are ‘unstuck’ or free of the problems that initially brought you to therapy.
In my experience, we move in the direction in which we are focusing our attention, whether it’s throwing a ball, driving a car, steering a kayak, or working through life’s challenges. And so, the focus of our work will be moving towards your fullest life rather than on fixing problems. Even with problems that feel so big, there are always already times in which we are free of them, few and far between though they may be. Together, we will notice and attend to these times, exploring what was different about them, what does it feel like, what happens next, what else do we notice. In this way, we will begin to move towards solutions that we knew all along!
THERAPEUTIC APPROACH
In addition to the foundation of my practice being a combination of Solution-Focused Therapy and Coaching, I draw on my training and experience in Gestalt Therapy, Hakomi Body-Centered Psychotherapy, Expressive Arts Therapy, Yoga, Mindfulness, and Interpersonal Neurobiology. Sometimes our problems are so consuming that it’s difficult to shift the focus to solutions. Integrating experiential work with the body and through art can help us access inner wisdom that we don’t typically access in traditional talk therapy. Additionally, research in neurobiology shows us that when we recall a memory and access it in the present moment with multiple senses, it actually builds a new neural pathway in our brain, as if that experience is happening again. The more pathways we have, the more likely it is for us to notice other similar experiences and we begin to experience the life we want to live!
If this sounds interesting to you or you want to hear more, go to the contact page to schedule a free phone consultation or give me a call: 828-772-0158.
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