About Laurie
Laurie's personal connection to adoption began when she was a teenager and her aunt placed her daughter for adoption. The adoption is closed and all attempts to be reunited have been unsuccessful.
Laurie's professional experience began over 25 years ago when she began working in the field of adoption. Since then she has become a nationally recognized clinician and birthparent expert.
Laurie received a Master's Degree in Psychology in 1991 and a short-time later opened a private practice. She provides compassionate guidance for those exploring family-building journeys. In addition, Laurie offers comprehensive mental health counseling, tailored to meet the unique needs of each individual, couple, or family. Her approach is attachment based and provides an empathic, supportive and safe therapeutic environment dedicated to fostering resilience, healing and personal growth.
Laurie's extensive experience has made her a trusted resource for those seeking expert guidance in both family-related matters and mental well-being.
Affiliations
Mental Health Professional Group (MHPG) is a professional group of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine
A statewide professional membership association dedicated to representing mental health counselors licensed in New York State
Professional leadership
Support Group Leader
Birth Mother Support Groups
Surrogates Support Groups for New York Surrogacy Center
International Speaker
Presented on "Adoption and Hoarding: It's Not About The Stuff" at the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD)
Co-Host
Annual Birth Mother's Weekend Retreat each November for National Adoption Month
Continuing education
Master Class in Attachment Based Therapy
Brad Reedy, PhD FindingYou
The Nuts and Bolts of Donor and Gestational Carrier Evaluations
Carrie Eichberg, PhD Master Class
Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders Assessing and Treatment
Hudson Valley Professional Development
Best Practices in Home Study Assessment
National Council for Adoption
Growing Up and Waking Up
PhD-Zen Master Cape Cod Institute
Applied Mindfulness in Psychotherapy and Buddhist Practice -Flint Sparks
Home
by Emma Wise
Reflections from a young adult adoptee from China
loneliness. solitude.
it wasn’t until she could differentiate the two that she learned the feeling of overwhelming contentedness. finding comfort in the unfamiliar, she gave the little one a warm embrace (乐怀) and learned the true meaning of her birth name.
the little one had learned before they were able to form sentences that no one is coming to save you. they familiarized themselves with the emptiness of rejection, internalizing the thought, the fear, that something within them was broken. incomplete. undesirable.
she spent her years gripping onto others in desperation, too familiar with the sting of loss and the isolation of feeling completely alone. lost to shame, she ran straight into the arms of the next broken soul, remaining at just enough of a distance to fulfill her own tragic prophecy. she was unloveable.
it wasn’t until she found the little one and held them tight, that she started to see the world in a new light. the abundance of joy and love and warmth became more apparent than ever before. she was the beautiful, radiant soul she saw in those around her, and she finally felt at home.