Creative, practical psychotherapy that promotes resilience
and helps you build the life you imagine
Lauren Gonzalez, MA, MFA, LMFT
Licensed in New York, California, New Jersey,
North Carolina and Pennsylvania
I engage in ongoing professional training to maintain licensure and stay current in the field, with a focus on my specialty areas as well as trauma, grief, psychopharmacology, ethics, and neuroscience-informed practice. Some of my trainings and professional associations are listed below.
DBT Training/workshops/experience:
Dissertation Second Advisor, University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), 2022-2023
(Doctorate in Social Work (DSW)
Advanced Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Mechanisms of Change: The Experience and Understanding of Advanced DBT Therapists, by Dr. Christopher Deussing
Intensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy Foundational Training (Behavioral Tech), Seattle/Bellevue, Washington, presented by Dr. Elizabeth Dexter-Mazza and Dr. Melanie Harned (November, 2013)
DBT Skills Training Six-Month Online Curriculum (Behavioral Tech, 2013)
Foundations of Exposure Therapy (Behavioral Tech, 2015)
Practice Grounds with Kelly Koerner, PhD, 2014-2015
Practice Grounds with Kelly Koerner, PhD, 2019
DBT for Substance Abusers with Borderline Personality Disorder, Portland DBT Institute (presented by Linda Dimeff, PhD) (May 2016)
Schema Therapy
Schema Therapy Training with Dr. Wendy Behary, San Francisco, CA (2016)
Schema Therapy Course, with Dr. Wendy Behary (2018)
Schema Therapy Training Center of New York, Individual Schema Therapy Certification Program, with Travis Atkinson (Advanced Certification Training Track) 2022-2023
Advanced Individual Schema Therapy Supervision (Travis Atkinson, Schema Therapy Training Center of New York) 2022-2023
Eco-Therapy
My work is informed by extensive training in ecotherapy, nature-based mindfulness, and animal-assisted therapy with teachers and organizations across the United States and internationally. I am especially grateful to Jan Edl Stein of the Holos Institute for her longstanding mentorship and influence on my practice.
Beyond formal training, I have spent a lifetime learning from the natural world. I believe that humans are inseparable from their environments, and that nature can be a powerful source of insight, healing, and connection.
My training includes ecopsychology, animal-assisted therapy, and nature-based wisdom traditions through professional seminars, certification programs, and graduate studies in Transpersonal Psychology at John F. Kennedy University.
Mindfulness
My formal mindfulness practice began in 1995 when I first visited a Zen Buddhist temple in Chicago as an undergraduate. Over the years, I continued studying and practicing mindfulness wherever I lived, eventually joining the Green Gulch Farm/San Francisco Zen Center community, where I taught and coordinated children’s nature-based mindfulness programs from 2011–2013.
Mindfulness and meditation were central to my graduate studies in Transpersonal Psychology at John F. Kennedy University and remain foundational to my personal life and therapeutic work. While traditional sitting meditation has often challenged me, I discovered a deep connection through mindfulness in nature, where stillness offers its own unique lessons in presence, attention, and relationship.
In addition to extensive self-study and practice, I have trained with numerous mindfulness teachers and completed a mindfulness certification intensive with Dr. Debra Premashakti Alvis. I continue to approach mindfulness as both a lifelong practice and an ongoing opportunity for learning and growth.
Memberships/Consultation Teams:
Clinical Fellow, American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT)
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT, 2012-2018)
International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST)
The University of the State of New York, Education Department, Office of the Professions (New York)
State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Professional Counselors (Pennsylvania)
Board of Behavioral Sciences (California)
State Board of Marriage and Family Therapy Examiners (New Jersey)
Marriage and Family Therapy Licensure Board (North Carolina)
AAMFT Telehealth and Technology Forum
Member of the Duke University DBT Listserv community
DBT Consultation with Dr. Sanno Zack, Stanford University Medical Center
DBT Team Consultation with Linda Dimeff, PhD (2017-2018)
Schema Therapy Training Center of New York
DBT Consutlation team with Philadelphia DBT Associates, Philadelphia, PA (2018-2021)
Oakland DBT and Mindfulness Center DBT Consultation Team, Oakland, CA (2013-2018)
Practice History:
Full-time private practice in New York, California, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and New Jersey Telemedicine/online practice only. Telehealth available to individuals and collaborations/teams internationally.
Formerly in joint private practice with the Philadelphia DBT Associates in Rittenhouse Square, and with the Oakland DBT and Mindfulness Center where I taught the Advanced DBT program, facilitated and co-facilitated adult DBT Skills groups, provided individual, couples, and family DBT Skills coaching, and DBT-informed individual and family psychotherapy. I completed my practicum at the John F. Kennedy University Counseling Center in Oakland, California, and the West Lake Middle School in Oakland, California.
