Laura Smalt
Being the one who holds everything together can be exhausting, especially when your own needs go unnoticed. Perhaps you hold yourself to impossible standards, constantly questioning whether you've done enough. Maybe you're easily irritated, quick to anger, or carrying resentment you don't fully understand. You might avoid conflict, struggle to say no, or feel responsible for keeping everyone else happy. Or perhaps your struggles are quieter, showing up as harsh self-criticism, shame, or a persistent feeling that you're somehow not good enough. My practice focuses on supporting women navigating these experiences and the emotional exhaustion, relationship difficulties, and disconnection from self that may accompany them.
What if therapy wasn't just about understanding your struggles, but discovering a life you actually want to live?
Sometimes, understanding how we feel today involves exploring the experiences and relationships that have shaped us. Difficult childhood experiences, emotional neglect, abuse, painful relationships, and ongoing stress can influence how we view ourselves, manage emotions, and connect with others. Through a compassionate, collaborative, and nonjudgmental approach, we can explore the patterns that may be contributing to your struggles while developing healthier ways of responding to life's challenges. Together, we can work toward strengthening emotional awareness, establishing boundaries, building self-trust, and cultivating a more compassionate relationship with yourself. You deserve more than simply getting through each day. Therapy can be a space to begin moving beyond survival toward a life where you feel more grounded, connected, and able to thrive.
First session
Taking the first step toward therapy can feel overwhelming, especially if you're used to handling everything on your own. You may wonder what to say, where to begin, or whether your concerns are important enough to bring up. The good news is, you don't have to have it all figured out. Our first session is an opportunity for us to get to know one another and begin understanding what brings you to therapy. We'll discuss your current concerns, relevant experiences, and what you hope to gain from our work together. I'll also ask questions about different areas of your life to better understand your needs and how I can support you. There is no expectation to share every detail of your story or revisit painful experiences before you're ready. We'll move at a pace that respects your comfort while beginning to identify areas you may want to explore. You'll also have an opportunity to ask questions about the therapeutic process, discuss your goals, and get a sense of whether my approach feels like a good fit for you. You don't need to find the perfect words, have all the answers, or know exactly where to begin. The first session is simply a starting point; a space to be heard, begin building trust, and explore what moving toward a more fulfilling life might look like for you.
Strengths
Feeling truly seen and understood can be especially meaningful when you've spent years questioning yourself, minimizing your needs, or feeling that your emotions are too much for others. My approach is rooted in compassion, curiosity, and a genuine respect for each person's unique experiences. I believe that understanding what lies beneath our emotional struggles is just as important as addressing the challenges we face today. Rather than focusing solely on behaviors or symptoms, I take a thoughtful, individualized approach to exploring how past experiences, relationships, learned beliefs, and current circumstances may influence your emotional well-being. I recognize that the ways we've learned to cope often serve a purpose, even when those patterns begin creating difficulties in our lives. Together, we can explore these patterns without shame or judgment while identifying opportunities for meaningful change. My goal is to create a collaborative space where you feel comfortable being yourself, expressing difficult emotions, and exploring experiences at a pace that respects your needs. Our work balances deeper self-understanding with practical strategies to strengthen emotional awareness, navigate challenging relationships, establish healthier boundaries, and develop greater trust in yourself. You don't have to prove your worth, have all the answers, or become someone else to deserve support. Therapy can be a space to reconnect with who you are and begin building a life that feels more authentic, balanced, and fulfilling.
Ideal clients
You may be the woman who appears to have everything together but feels overwhelmed beneath the surface. Perhaps you're constantly striving to meet expectations, overthinking decisions, or feeling like nothing you do is ever enough. Maybe you're easily frustrated, irritable, or carrying anger you don't fully understand. You might struggle to say no, avoid conflict to keep the peace, or find yourself putting everyone else's needs ahead of your own. Or perhaps your struggles are quieter, showing up as harsh self-criticism, shame, or a persistent feeling that you're somehow not enough. You may find yourself feeling emotionally exhausted, disconnected from others, or unsure of who you are outside of the roles and expectations you've taken on. Sometimes, these struggles are influenced by difficult childhood experiences, emotional neglect, abuse, complicated family relationships, or painful experiences in adulthood. Other times, ongoing stress, life transitions, or current relationship challenges may be contributing to how you feel. You don't have to know exactly why you're struggling or have the right words to describe what you're experiencing. Perhaps you're ready to better understand yourself, navigate difficult emotions, establish healthier boundaries, or develop more fulfilling relationships. Maybe you simply want to stop feeling like you're constantly getting through the day and begin experiencing life with greater confidence, connection, and purpose. Whatever has brought you here, you deserve the opportunity to explore your experiences, recognize your strengths, and discover what moving beyond surviving toward thriving could look like for you.
Treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Understanding why you think, feel, and respond the way you do can be an important part of creating meaningful change. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps us explore the connections between your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, while considering how past experiences, relationships, and learned patterns may influence your present-day struggles. I integrate CBT with psychoeducation, neuroscience-informed perspectives, and body-based strategies to help you better understand what's happening emotionally and physically. Together, we may explore how stress affects your nervous system, why certain reactions feel automatic, and how beliefs or coping patterns that once served a purpose may no longer be helping you. Our work goes beyond identifying what isn't working. We'll also focus on developing healthier ways of thinking, coping, communicating, and responding to yourself and others. This may include strengthening emotional regulation, challenging self-critical beliefs, establishing boundaries, and practicing new behaviors that better reflect your needs, values, and goals. The aim isn't simply to manage difficult emotions or change negative thoughts. It's to build greater self-awareness, self-compassion, and practical skills that support meaningful, lasting changes in how you experience yourself, your relationships, and your life.
Compassion-Focused
The way you relate to yourself can have a powerful influence on how you feel, navigate challenges, and connect with others. If you're accustomed to being hard on yourself, questioning your worth, or putting everyone else's needs before your own, treating yourself with compassion may feel unfamiliar or even uncomfortable. Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) helps us explore the origins of self-criticism, shame, and difficult emotional patterns with curiosity rather than judgment. Together, we may examine how past experiences, relationships, and learned expectations have shaped your inner dialogue and the ways you respond to yourself during difficult moments. I incorporate psychoeducation and an understanding of the brain's emotional regulation systems to help you recognize why certain reactions occur and how self-criticism, fear, and stress can reinforce one another. We may also practice strategies that support emotional regulation, self-soothing, and a more compassionate inner voice. This work isn't about ignoring difficult feelings, excusing harmful behaviors, or simply telling yourself to think positively. It's about learning to approach yourself with greater understanding while developing healthier ways of responding to challenges, setting boundaries, and honoring your needs. The goal is to strengthen your ability to support yourself through life's difficulties, build a more secure sense of self-worth, and make choices that reflect the person you want to be and the life you want to create.
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
You don't have to wait until the worry quiets, the self-doubt disappears, or everything feels manageable before you begin creating a life that feels meaningful and fulfilling. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on helping you move toward what matters to you, even when uncomfortable thoughts, emotions, or experiences are present. Sometimes, so much energy goes into trying to control how we feel, avoid discomfort, meet expectations, or keep others happy that we lose sight of our own needs, values, and desires. Through ACT, we'll explore where these patterns may be keeping you stuck and how to develop a more flexible relationship with your internal experiences. Rather than trying to eliminate every difficult thought or feeling, we'll work on learning to notice them without allowing them to dictate your choices. This may involve mindfulness, stepping back from unhelpful thoughts, clarifying what truly matters to you, and taking intentional steps toward the relationships, boundaries, and experiences you want in your life. Acceptance doesn't mean approving of painful experiences, tolerating mistreatment, or giving up on change. It means making room for what you cannot immediately control while choosing how you want to respond. The goal is to help you move beyond simply getting through each day and toward living with greater intention, authenticity, and connection to yourself.
Person-centered (Rogerian)
You deserve a space where you can show up as you are, without feeling pressured to have everything figured out, meet someone else's expectations, or minimize what you're experiencing. Person-Centered and Humanistic Therapy emphasize the importance of feeling genuinely heard, understood, and accepted as you explore your experiences and what matters most to you. My approach is grounded in empathy, authenticity, respect, and the belief that you are more than the challenges you're facing. Rather than assuming I know what's best for you, I work collaboratively with you to better understand your perspective, recognize your strengths, and explore the experiences, beliefs, and expectations that may be influencing how you see yourself and navigate your life. For women who have spent years prioritizing others, questioning their worth, or feeling disconnected from themselves, this work can provide an opportunity to rediscover their own voice, needs, and values. Therapy isn't about changing who you are to meet someone else's definition of success or well-being. It's about creating space for greater self-understanding, personal growth, and choices that feel authentic to you. My goal is to offer a supportive therapeutic relationship where you feel empowered to develop greater self-trust, strengthen your sense of identity, and move toward a life that reflects what is meaningful and fulfilling to you.
Attachment-based
The relationships and experiences that shape us can influence how we understand ourselves, express our needs, and connect with others. You may notice patterns such as fearing rejection, struggling to trust, avoiding conflict, prioritizing others' needs, or feeling uncomfortable with emotional closeness. Attachment-Based Therapy offers a way to explore how earlier relationships and experiences may have influenced these patterns, while recognizing that your past does not have to define your future. Together, we may examine the expectations you've developed about relationships, how you respond when you feel hurt or disconnected, and the ways you've learned to seek connection, protection, or reassurance. This work is approached with curiosity and compassion, rather than blame toward yourself or the people in your life. As you develop greater awareness of these patterns, we'll also explore healthier ways of communicating your needs, establishing boundaries, building trust, and navigating emotional closeness. The goal isn't to place blame on your past or suggest that every relationship difficulty began in childhood. It's to help you better understand yourself, strengthen your sense of security and self-trust, and develop relationships that feel healthier, more balanced, and more fulfilling.
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
Woman
Top specialties
Anxiety
Childhood / Intergenerational Trauma
Self Esteem
Other specialties
Anger Management
Attachment Issues
Burnout
Domestic Violence
Emotional Regulation
Family Conflict
Grief
Insomnia/Sleep Issues
Life Transitions
Loneliness / Isolation
Serves
Adults (18 to 64)
Individual Therapy
Woman
Doesn't specialize in
Addiction
Addiction / Substance Use
Child or Adolescent
Eating Disorders
Gambling Addiction
Medication Management
Men's Issues
Recent Hospitalization
Sex Addiction
Licensed in
FloridaLicense MH28088
South CarolinaLicense 12667