Laura is one of the best therapists I have ever worked alongside. She provides excellent care and I am very pleased to have her as part of the TAOW MD practice. See below her bio for real messages I received from patients that I have referred to her. -P. Joseph Resignato, MD
Laura’s highest therapeutic priority is the relationship she establishes with the patients she treats. She describes the ideal connection as safe, non-judgmental, and mutually accountable and considers these factors to be instrumental to a person’s healing and recovery. Laura’s capacity to embrace all walks of life and ability to help humans feel comfortable in their own skin has made her long standing career as a therapist full and dynamic.
Laura brings comprehensive, therapeutic skills to her practice. She is thoroughly skilled and experienced to treat depression, substance abuse and personality disorders. HOWEVER she is a true expert and sub-specializes in the treatment of anxiety-related conditions – particularly obsessive types of thinking, OCD, and ‘body focused repetitive behaviors’ like hair pulling and scratching disorders.
Laura uses a potpourri of therapeutic frameworks to assist her patients in symptom reduction, such as ERP (exposure response prevention), DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy), IFS (internal family systems) and CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy.) Laura collaborates closely with her patient’s psychiatrist to ensure that the best possible treatment is in place.
Education and training:
Laura Hoffman completed a 4-year B.A. at Temple University in Philadelphia where she majored in Psychology and Religion. She also studied and lived in Tel Aviv, Israel where she learned about Middle Eastern Studies. Upon her return to the United States Laura pursued a master’s degree in social work. Laura was a Mulican Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where she was trained by experts in the Child Abuse Referral and Evaluation Clinic. This experience has helped shape her comprehensive knowledge base of the impact childhood trauma has on the development of issues that later arise in adulthood.
After graduate school, Laura moved to Washington, DC and took part in the revamping of the public child welfare system. She directed the collaboration with the police department, school district, and news media for Child and Family Services and worked to bring quality clinical and case management care to the children who were part of the child welfare system.
As she worked towards her clinical social work license, Laura continued to receive training in many therapeutic treatment modalities. She has several therapeutic certifications that she has earned over the years working in a private practice setting. Laura spent time working in a small, nonprofit, adoption agency providing clinical care to women who were thinking about creating voluntary adoption plans. She also supervised the clinicians working at this agency.
Laura is a part of the International Obsessive Compulsive Foundation panel. She is a leader in this field and has supervised hundreds of individuals who have been on their journey to becoming licensed mental health professionals.
Laura works with adolescents and adults in private practice at The Art of Wellness.