Laura is a San Francisco based Marriage and Family Therapy Therapist with roots in community advocacy. She is passionate about social justice, culturally competent, and trauma-informed therapeutic practices. Currently working as a Behavioral Health Counselor embedded in the San Francisco Unified School District, Laura provides therapy for at-risk youth experiencing: Depression, anxiety, stress, suicidal ideation, self-harm, disordered eating, trauma exposure, Autism Spectrum Disorder, low self-esteem, questioning sexual identity, grief, community violence, ADHD, and behavioral/conduct concerns.Laura was inspired to move from public policy to public mental health after working as the District Director for the California State Senate where she advocated for legislation and generated support for bills including: SB 598 to provide mental health services in schools, SB 970 to limit solitary confinement in juvenile facilities, SB 342 increasing social worker visits to children in foster care and SB 1148 to set standards for MFT record retention. A Bay Area native, Laura will be completing her Masters in Educational Psychology - MFT in June 2016. As an undergraduate, Laura attended the California State University at Chico where she was the director of the Associated Students Women’s Center on campus, the only completely student-run non-profit women’s center in the country. She earned her degree with honors in Multicultural and Gender Studies with an emphasis in Women’s Studies and was awarded the Outstanding Graduating Senior award from her department.