Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Todd.
Hi Laura, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a helper or healer – a therapist, surgeon, veterinarian, or nurse, always drawn to the world of care. But by the time I was about ten, I wasn’t sure I’d be anything at all. Much of my adolescence and early adulthood was plagued by chronic mental & emotional pain. Growing up in the “chemical imbalance” era, my experience was often explained as a biological condition to be treated with medication rather than a response to trauma. I was taught to see my pain as a disorder to be managed rather than a wound to be tended. I internalized the belief that I was broken or unfixable. Still, I did what I was “supposed to” – school, sports, friends, college applications – continuing to live even when I wasn’t sure living was for me. I hoped to find better answers for people like me, or at least different ones.
In undergrad, I studied psychology, neurology, and child development and volunteered in research labs, determined to understand the human experience from every angle. Life, meanwhile, offered its own lessons through a series of painful events. Nearly defeated, I entered graduate school more to escape where I came from than to plan for a future. As I learned more about development, the impacts of adverse experiences, and trauma, things began to click – painfully at first. Realizing my suffering wasn’t a biological flaw but instead a response to endurance of chronic harm was equal parts liberating & terrifying. It meant confronting exactly what I had hoped to escape.
Ultimately, I was so fortunate, even if it didn’t feel like it at the time. Surrounded by professors, mentors, and peers who saw strength in my story, I began to see it too. They taught me that my pain didn’t disqualify me from helping others – it equipped me in ways more tangible than any taught intervention could. What began with a daily practice of going through the motions evolved into a dedication to educate, support, and help those struggling – myself included. With time, support, and self-compassion, I began to believe in my capacity to heal. From there, lived experience, education, and research converged into an authentic, relational, and intentional practice.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
While I had my challenges in finding my way to becoming a therapist, I feel compelled to share that my experience was smoother than others – something I admittedly didn’t fully realize until once I was on the road. I began to recognize that I had access to resources and privileges that allowed me to endure and overcome many of the barriers on the road that prevented others from doing the same. The reality is, this road was built for people like me. According to the American Psychological Association, 83% of psychologists identified as white in 2019, and a 2025 ASWB study reported similar results. These sustained numbers reflect a broader issue: the systemic and practical barriers that make it extraordinarily difficult for many aspiring therapists – particularly those from marginalized backgrounds – to enter and remain in the field. The years of schooling, followed by underpaid or unpaid labor, mounting fees, red tape, and outdated requirements create obstacles that have little to do with a person’s talent or passion for the work.
Even well-intentioned efforts to expand access, such as online programs and reduced educational requirements, have often resulted in underprepared and unsupported clinicians entering a demanding profession already facing high rates of burnout.
Some aspiring therapists face housing instability, family obligations, or unsafe environments. Others simply lack the resources that make the journey sustainable. Yet many of these would-be-therapists are often the very individuals whose lived experience and resilience could most deeply benefit & represent communities in need. All to say, my road wasn’t easy, but it was easier than many – and I believe it is important to highlight how our field must continue to evolve to remove unnecessary barriers and honor the diverse pathways that bring people to this work.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Currently, I serve in multiple roles: therapist, director, supervisor, and clinical consultant. Across each, I take an integrative, relational, and collaborative approach designed to foster trust and create space for vulnerability, resilience-building, and corrective experiences. My professional background spans a range of settings and populations, with a particular emphasis on supporting those disproportionately impacted by systemic inequities, chronic stress, and complex traumas. These include, but are not limited to: active-duty service members and veterans, families facing barriers to care, displaced or undocumented individuals, those experiencing housing instability, and clients navigating co-occurring substance use, disordered eating, or other socially reinforced forms of self-harm.
I’ve observed that much of Western mental health continues to individualize suffering, encouraging people to “self-care” their way through trauma while minimizing the institutional and systemic factors that perpetuate harm. This framing is not only misguided; it’s negligent. My work seeks to challenge these narratives and expand the lens through which we understand both healing and responsibility.
I am especially passionate about helping others deepen their understanding of themselves, their clients, and the systems they operate within through clinical work that integrates intersectional, sociological, and neurobiological perspectives. I value depth and process over formulaic symptom management, and I see tremendous importance in bridging the gap between relational, process-oriented healing and the algorithmic models that too often reduce people to diagnoses. My passion lies in helping others find meaning, connection, and authenticity in that in-between space.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
When you feel the pressure to be perfect, “healed,” or to have it all figured out in order to be a good therapist, please remember: your humanity is your greatest asset. Your lived experience, your capacity to sit with pain, and your willingness to grow will shape your work far more deeply than any textbook or intervention ever could. Science, research, and evidence matter – but you are the conduit between those tools and the people you serve. Our work asks us to honor the full complexity of being human: the beliefs, histories, emotions, and relationships that shape who we are. Healing can’t be achieved through one-size-fits-all approaches or surface-level solutions. At the same time, this isn’t a call to bypass our own healing; both avoidance and over-identification can harm. Sustainable, ethical therapy requires both personal exploration and collective accountability.
If I could offer one piece of advice, it would be this: commit to becoming an embodied practitioner. Go beyond symptom management and formulaic treatment. Cultivate curiosity about your own story, your triggers, your privileges, and your blind spots. The deeper your connection to yourself, the deeper your capacity to connect with others.
My hope for new therapists is that they embrace their own humanity so they can meet clients in theirs – to move beyond checklists and worksheets into the layered realities that clients bring into the room. Healing is imperfect, dynamic, and ever-evolving… just like us. When we can honor that truth, we stop striving to be the “perfect therapist” and start becoming the real one.
Pricing:
- Consultation (for Licensed Clinicians) $200/60 minute meeting
- Supervision (for Pre-licensed Clinicians) $125/60 minute meeting
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.inclusivetherapists.com/california/san-diego/laura-todd
- Instagram: lpcclaurasd
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-todd-san-diego-lpcc/
- Other: https://www.barewellconsulting.com/laura
Image Credits
Jon Matthews
