Lauren Smith, Psy.D.
More about Lauren
Lauren brings humility, curiosity, and deep respect to her clinical relationships. She aims to cultivate a space where clients can reconnect with their inner wisdom and move toward healing, growth, self-determination, and meaningful connection with others. Lauren is currently under the clinical supervision of Dr. Sandy Kruse for psychological assessment at the Heritage Diagnostic and Assessment Center and Dr. Kim Lodewyk for psychotherapy services.
About Lauren Smith
Lauren Smith is a pre-licensed clinician with broad experience providing individual, family, and group therapy across the lifespan. She has worked in a range of clinical settings—including outpatient community mental health, private practice, partial hospitalization programs, and medical and psychiatric inpatient units—bringing depth and adaptability to her clinical practice. Lauren earned her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Wheaton College in 2020. Her clinical passions lie in supporting individuals navigating childhood and complex trauma, attachment and relational concerns, dissociation, racialized trauma, and identity development related to race, gender, and sexuality. Before beginning her graduate studies, Lauren served as a K–5 special education teacher and led the Special Education department in a Title I school district in North Carolina. This early work deeply shaped her understanding of the intersection between systemic inequities and mental, emotional and physical health, and it continues to inform her anti-oppressive, trauma-informed, and relational approach to care. Lauren integrates relational psychodynamic theory with a culturally responsive, strengths-based lens. She is trained in Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC), non-directive play therapy and is certified in infant mental health. When working with children ages 0–5, she incorporates Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) techniques to foster secure attachment and family connection. Lauren’s therapeutic stance is collaborative and client-centered. She believes in co- creating the therapeutic space with each individual and invites ongoing feedback to ensure that care is responsive, affirming, and grounded in each person’s lived experience. In addition to psychotherapy, Lauren offers comprehensive psychological assessment services to clarify concerns related to social-emotional and executive functioning. She approaches assessment as a therapeutic process, seeking to help individuals and families make meaning of their experiences and gain insight into how to thrive within their unique contexts. Outside of her clinical work, Lauren enjoys tending to her superfluous houseplant collection, hunting for the best thrift deals, curling up with her cats and a good book, and spending time outside with her toddler and husband.
