I’m Laura Philpott, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (Washington State) with a master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling and Addiction. My background includes work on VA PTSD clinical teams, with sexual assault survivors, and on substance abuse treatment teams — rooms where people were carrying some of the heaviest things a person can carry. I came to this work because I understood, early and deeply, that what we’ve been through changes the way we experience ourselves and the world. And I believed then, as I do now, that being genuinely seen by another person is both the thing people most need and the thing they most fear.

I am not a soft therapist. I will tell you that you’re doing great when it’s true — and only then. What I offer is a clear-eyed look at what you’ve been carrying, why you’ve been carrying it, and what it’s actually costing you. I don’t flinch at hard stories. I don’t pretend the answers are simple. And I won’t let you use the language of healing to stay stuck.

I came to this work the long way. As a first-generation college graduate and single mom, I earned both my degrees while building the kind of life I write and talk about — functioning well on the outside, doing the harder work underneath. I’ve moved across the country and across the world. I’ve been through loss that didn’t come with a clean name and crises that asked everything of me. I’m not working from theory. I’m working from having been there — and from still doing my own work.

My clients are high-functioning people — leaders, professionals, parents, caretakers, veterans — who are good at showing up for everyone else and are finally ready to ask what it’s costing them. They are done choosing the harder path just because they know how to survive it.

If you’re looking for gentle affirmations, there are many therapists who will offer you that. If you’re ready for someone who will tell you the harder truth — you’re in the right place.

Telehealth only. Licensed in Washington State. Private pay.

Laura Philpott | CPT, PE, EMDR, WET, MI

Check Out My Substack: lauraphilpott3.substack.com