Lauren Avitto

Lauren has been an absolute blessing and a real beacon of hope on my mental health journey. She is authentically compassionate, patient and dedicated to guiding me through the struggles of OCD and related issues. I’ve been enduring OCD for nearly four decades & she’s one of the very few mental health professionals I’ve encountered that actually speaks my language & understands the deep idiosyncrasies of this disorder. Truly a rare find. OCD tends to be cunning in its manifestations, but Lauren’s endless ingenuity & creatively has been pivotal in my progression towards recovery. She has genuine insight and empathy for the role that trauma, grief and family dynamics play in OCD. I’ve worked with countless therapists over the decades, and this is most progress I’ve ever made towards recovery. When I started on NOCD I was terrified to leave my house, I believed I had to infect pain on myself to be worthy of even existing and felt that I had no future. But within a few months I’m doing things I never dreamed possible & actually finding myself worthy of having joy in my life. Those first steps in recovery are frightening, but with Lauren’s support I’ve learned to accept uncertainty (or embrace the suck, as I call it) and to sit with uncomfortableness in resisting compulsions. It’s all far from easy, requires real effort/commitment, and there are relapses… but the freedom to live a full life unburdened by obsessions and compulsions is so worth it. I’m still on my recovery journey and I still have bad days, but so much within myself has changed for the better that feel like NOCD and Lauren have been the best things to happen to me in such a long time, maybe ever. If you have an opportunity to work with Lauren, I do highly recommend her, as she’s made such a positive impact on my life.

A paragraph does not do justice on expressing how special of a therapist Lauren is, however, I will do my best to share what kind of a therapist Lauren is to me. Lauren is an understanding, caring, and gentle person. On the prettiest and ugliest of days, Lauren never fails to encourage and patiently work with me. She pushes me out of my comfort zone at a custom pace. Lauren is very knowledgeable in ERP and is creative when suggesting and implementing therapy exercises. Lauren genuinely cares and always celebrates my wins. I was extremely fortunate to find a suitable therapist for me and I encourage everyone to self advocate in finding one for yourself. To Lauren, thank you for being my therapist.