01 · Who Lauren works with

Lauren works with stress, Anxiety, trauma and abuse and parenting issues

Lauren lists 14 specialisms and 9 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Lauren chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Lauren's own words

What Lauren says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

Most of the time, most of us, are just doing the best we can. When we get stuck, it’s due not to inability, rather lack of experience or knowledge. Sometimes we just need to be heard and feel understood. Sometimes, we need to add more skills to our toolbox or see things from a different perspective. Throughout the years of my experience in hospitals and private practice, many advances have been made in the field of psychology. We understand so much more about how our brains work! We’ve developed new techniques and refined old ones to help rewrite new neural pathways, change negative thinking habits and heal emotional trauma. I try to approach each client with total acceptance of where you are and who you are right now. As we explore the issues you are dealing with, I hope to be able to teach you some new, highly effective ways to feel more in control of your emotions, reactions and your life. I use a compassionate, multifaceted approach of cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness, EFT and even exercise to empower you to help yourself. I look forward to joining you on your life’s journey. You can do this!!

Lauren Hales, on the BetterHelp listing · read 9 Oct 2026

03 · How Lauren works

The 6 approaches Lauren lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Lauren lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Lauren's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Lauren runs a session.

Attachment-Based Therapy

Reads present-day relationship difficulty through the lens of how safety and closeness were learned early on. The therapeutic relationship itself is treated as part of the work, because it is where the pattern tends to show up first.

Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT

Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.

Emotionally Focused TherapyEFT

Built for couples and rooted in attachment: the recurring argument is treated as a cycle two people are stuck in rather than as one person's fault. Sessions work to interrupt the cycle and get to what each person is actually asking for underneath it.

Motivational InterviewingMI

A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.

Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT

Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.

Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed

CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Lauren practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Lauren's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

   BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Lauren at this point.

2. Naming Lauren specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Lauren is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Lauren.

3. If the caseload is full

   You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

4. The first conversation

   A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

5. If the fit is wrong

   Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Lauren

Built from what Lauren actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Lauren's - Lauren has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

• “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Attachment-Based Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

  Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

• “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

  Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

• “With 25 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

  Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

• “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

  On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential

LMHC

Licensed in

Florida

Licence

FL LMHC MH8690

Licence number

MH8690

Licence expires

31 Mar 2027

NPI

1780127316

Years in practice

25

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Lauren's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 9 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Lauren. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.