Hello! I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California. I received my Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University and have been practicing for 5 years. I enjoy working with individual adults to help them increase self-awareness, realize their full potential and purpose, and heal from relationship or attachment trauma. My clients are often going through difficult life transitions or searching and asking some of the deeper questions in life. They may be thinking things like "Why do I keep doing this?", "Why do I feel stuck?", "Why do I feel like I'm not truly being myself?", or "How do I handle these emotions?".
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session I would want to hear from you about the struggles you are facing, what that experience has been like for you, and how you would like to see things change. I believe especially in the beginning that focusing on building trust and connection in our therapeutic relationship is essential. My counseling style is to create a safe and nurturing atmosphere where you feel seen and cared about unconditionally. Part of my role as we go further is to point out insights and themes that I hear from you and to help you make connections. I want to provide you with empathy, advocacy, and reflection to help you identify what may be at the heart of your symptoms. My goal is that through this process, you and I will collaborate to form your goals for therapy, as I seek to help you progress in the next step of your path.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
It has been my life-long passion to help others, as I have been through my own personal journey of healing and overcoming through many seasons in my life. This has included healing from childhood trauma, the journey of finding healthy romantic relationships and friendships, healing from expectations and conditions that others have placed on me, and finding the courage to embrace my feelings and push forward into the life and purpose that were right for me despite these obstacles. Now that I have been through that healing process, I enjoy walking alongside my clients as they process their own journeys to help them gain a better understanding of themselves and build skills in areas where they feel stuck.
About Laura Hileman
Specializes in
Serves ages
Licensed in
Accepts cash
Appointments
VirtualMy treatment methods
Attachment-based
I believe our attachment styles and early relationships can form certain dynamics within us that cause us to recreate those relationship patterns later in life. This could be the way you relate to romantic partners, co-workers, family members, your children, or even in friendships. This can be especially important if you keep finding yourself in the same patterns of relationship over time or in various contexts. Attachment style therapy involves you and I developing a strong empathic attunement in our therapeutic relationship, which can help us to uncover your style and current approach to creating attachments, how the past may be affecting the present, and create a space for you to heal and reshape those early childhood wounds to help you develop different types of relationships in the future.
Christian Counseling
Christian Counseling is an optional treatment method I can use for clients who are interested in that approach. I have multiple years of experience as a Spiritual Mentor to women and young adults, as well as in Biblical Counseling, leadership, and ministry.
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
I believe in helping you gain the ability to identify your emotions, increase your awareness of when you are experiencing them, and increase your confidence in your ability to process and gain insight from them. Pushing down our emotions can often lead to other painful or maladaptive behaviors, decisions, and expressions that are not authentic to who we are. In a session this could mean that I would listen intently, ask reflective questions, ask you to pause and consider what emotion you are feeling, encourage you to accept the feeling, and collaborate with you to feel safe allowing space for that emotion and understanding its place in your healing and in your life. EFT can also be helpful to learn emotion regulation and coping skills if you feel like your emotions are currently taking over. Conversely, if you feel you are currently disconnected from your emotions, EFT can also be of great value.
Humanistic
I use a Humanistic or Person-Centered approach in therapy in a few important ways. One is that I believe in also being an open and authentic person with you in therapy room. I want you to feel seen and heard, and I believe that building trust and connection in our therapeutic relationship is essential. I have been told that I make people feel comfortable very quickly and that I am easy to talk to. My counseling style is to create a safe and nurturing atmosphere where you feel cared about unconditionally. My goal is that through this process, you and I will collaborate to form your goals for therapy. I want to reflect back to you what I hear you saying to help you gain better self-awareness, insight, and clarity. I want to help you feel empowered in knowing yourself, finding confidence in yourself, and accepting yourself. I believe this will help to guide you in your future decisions such as making positive changes, creating effective relationships, or self-actualization (realizing your full potential).
Psychodynamic
I use a Psychodynamic approach in therapy to help you gain insight into deeper aspects of yourself, including things you may not even be aware of that are affecting your current mood, decisions, or lifestyle. Uncovering some of the foundational aspects of these elements can often help not only with a direct problem at hand but also with a pattern of problems or outcomes that you have been experiencing. I believe this mode of talk therapy will help you better understand some of your motivations, feelings, and behaviors. Psychodynamic therapy can often also help you develop stronger interpersonal relationships, increase your ability to understand yourself, and further develop your ability to problem solve.