Claire Lawler, LMSW

I’m Claire, and curiosity guides everything I do as a therapist. I’m curious about the patterns people can’t seem to break and what’s underneath the thoughts and beliefs that have gone unchallenged for years. Part of what I aim to do is help people slow down enough to notice what’s been running on autopilot and start asking questions about it. I want my clients to develop that same curiosity about themselves, because that’s when we can start to work on ourselves.

I studied psychology in undergrad, worked in research labs focused on adolescence, spent time coordinating clinical trials for psychiatric medications, and eventually earned my MSW. Each of those experiences taught me something different about what makes people who they are, but in the end it was the clinical work that felt right. I love sitting across from someone and figuring out what they need, then finding the interventions that fit into their life rather than handing them a textbook approach they’ll never use.

I’ve spent a lot of my training working with teenagers, and one thing I feel strongly about is taking young people seriously.

During my clinical work with high school students, I watched how many of them had been told what they were going through wasn’t real or didn’t count. Young people stop talking when nobody takes them seriously, and then the adults around them wonder why they’ve shut down. When someone finally has a space where their wants and needs are respected, they open up in ways that surprise everyone around them, including themselves. Being that person for them is central to how I practice.

Now I work with teens and adults navigating ADHD, executive functioning challenges, anxiety, depression, trauma, and substance use.

I pull from different modalities and adjust until we find what fits you. When it comes to substance use, this flexibility is especially important because I’ve seen how punitive and demeaning traditional approaches can be. I work from a harm reduction perspective because recovery looks different for every person and treatment should reflect that. Substance use serves a purpose in people’s lives and understanding that is where real progress starts.

I like to find moments of lightness in the work alongside the heavy stuff because therapy doesn’t have to be serious every second to be effective. Clients have told me they value how warm and accepting our sessions feel. One client who was nervous about ending our work together was surprised when they felt hopeful and confident about moving forward because of the skills and tools we’d built. That kind of feedback always reminds me I’m doing the right work.

Starting therapy is hard because you’re exposing personal things to a complete stranger, and it takes bravery to get to that point. I like to acknowledge that bravery rather than rushing past it. It will take time to feel comfortable, and that’s completely normal. But curiosity about yourself is the starting point for everything that follows, and if you’re here, that curiosity is already alive.