Why Me

Laurie L Smith has been practicing social work for 20 years and is well versed in multiple modalities, theories and evidence-based practices. Her work has continuously involved working with marginalized populations (many of which she herself has been a member of) and, in fact, that is where her most useful awareness has been gained. Her passion has moved towards working with Trauma Survivors (individuals, providers and systems) through offering self-guided, self-paced journeys that point towards:

Harnessing the power of our own internal GPS (and how to find it)
Wielding our innate survival skills (which we already have but haven’t been pointed to)
Building effective (and soft-shelled) armor and weaponry to protect against the harsh realities of the world
Unlearning survival skills that are no longer helpful and uncovering how to access vulnerability safely
Leveraging our innate resilience to create sustainable and lasting outcomes in our lives
Launch us into our OWN version of our OWN best life

We have a Birthright to Our own Internal Power and Joy and claiming them is an act of Rebellion, Rebirth and Revolution that the world is Ripe for.

She has obtained the following credentials in her lifetime: BSW (University of Michigan-Flint); MSW (University of Michigan, Specializing in Community and Social Systems); LMSW (State Licensure in MI and AK); Diabetes Prevention Specialist; Healthy Hearts Care Manager (an IHS project); Certified Diabetes Educator, Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, Certified Addictions Informed Mental Health Professional; Complex Care Manager; Stanford Chronic Disease Self Management Facilitator; Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention; Integrated Harm Reduction Psychotherapy; SMART Recovery Facilitator; Little School of Big Change Alumni; Mentorship with National experts such as DeeDee Stout [Harm Reduction Expert | Dee-Dee Stout Consulting | California (deedeestoutconsulting.com)], Andrew Tatarsky [Services — Andrew Tatarsky, PhD] and Dr. Tom Horvath [A. Tom Horvath, PhD, Psychologist – Non 12 Step Drug Rehab and Alcohol Treatment (practicalrecovery.com)]; Author of LifeHacks: Tips and Tricks for Accessing Your Inner Resilience Life Hacks: Tips and Tricks for Accessing Your Inner Resilience – Kindle edition by Smith, Laurie. Self-Help Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.; Owner Resilience Coach, LLC (private and group behavioral health practice [Resilience Coach | Counseling, Coaching & Enhancement | Plymouth, MI (resiliencecoachllc.com)]); Certified Doing Ambassador The Doers Way – Where Female Entrepreneurs Get Stuff Done; Female Entrepreneur and Survivor of Life and Other Traumas; Activist/Owner Clouded Compass, LLC

She has worked with the following populations (and more):

The Least and Most privileged among us;
Generational Trauma, Historical Trauma, Vicarious Trauma, PTSD,
Burnout, compassion fatigue;
Abuse (sexual, physical, emotional, institutional); Victims; Perpetrators;
Authority figures and those who have been forced into a sense of Powerlessness;
Marginalized and those marginalizing others;
LGBTQIA+ and those afraid of such identities;
Substance use, medical use and/or misuse;
Mental health (diagnosis or not);
Physical health (diagnosis, those not yet diagnosed and/or those for whom the system cannot find ‘what’s wrong’;
Chronic illness in many of its forms;
Those at the end of life, those at the beginning of life;
Alzheimers and Dementia;
Caregivers;
Attention and attention-related symptoms;
Compulsive behaviors and sister syndromes;
Personality Disorders and those claiming someone has personality disorder;
Autism Spectrum and other Neurodiversity’s;
Those who speak loudly and those that speak most softly;
Coerced care with those trying to survive it;
Treatment programs and Indigenous Healing processes;
Homeless and those with the nicest homes;
Immigrants and others exiled from their own communities;
English as a second language;
Indigenous and colonial persons;
Religious and non religious;
Spiritual and non spiritual

In short: I have worked daily in the trenches of basic Fear, Lack of Safety and Human Suffering. And, there is more than one way out of that.

Methods I’ve used:

Not limited to:

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy;
Dialectical Behavior Therapy;
Attachment Based;
Biofeedback;
Clinical Supervision and Licensed Supervisors;
Coaching;
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT);
Community Organizing Methods
Compassion Focused;
Culturally Sensitive;
Inclusive;
Eclectic;
Emotionally Focused;
Emotional Freedom Technique;
Existential;
Experiential Therapy;
Feminist;
Health Realization;
Humanistic; Integrative;
Integrated Harm Reduction Psychotherapy
Interpersonal; Mindfulness-Based (MBCT);
Motivational Interviewing;
Multicultural;
Narrative;
Nature-Informed;
Organizational Leadership;
Person-Centered;
Positive Psychology;
Post Traumatic Growth,
Psychoanalytic;
Psychodynamic;
Psychology of the Mind;
Rational Emotive Behavior (REBT);
Reality Therapy;
Relational;
Resilience;
Solution Focused Brief (SFBT);
Somatic;
Strength-Based;
Spiritually informed;
Three Principles;
Trauma Focused;
Treatments that build connection;
Well versed in several Spiritualities, Ancient Practices and World Religious beliefs

See My CV