Hold the Pattern so it stops Holding you.
Experiential Therapy for individuals & couples who are stuck in patterns that insight alone cannot reach.
Available via telehealth in California, Washington, Virginia, and Florida
Tim Walker’s “White Mischief”
Patterns, Interrupted.
You may know your patterns... but you're still stuck repeating them.
That's not a failure of effort or insight. They're solutions your system built when it needed them, and they keep running because some part of you still believes they're keeping you safe.
That belief can change. Not through gaining more knowledge, but by accessing more experience. That's the work I do.
Lauren Ziel, LCSW · Pasadena, CA.
Specializing in Shame, Anxiety, and Childhood Emotional Neglect
Somatics, Coherence Therapy, IFS, ART, I-CBT, Brainspotting, DBR, EFT
Insight matters. Experience makes it usable.
You have the insight… now let’s build the access. Talking about the pattern can show that you understand it; it does not necessarily give your system a different experience of it.
I do not ask you to leave your insight behind. I help you use it in the process of creating change.
We build off your insight — using that understanding to find the implicit beliefs that fuel your patterns. Making contact with the beliefs (and their emotional and physical charge) is a necessary step towards updating your patterns. We can’t explain them away. We have to experience it and at the same time offer it an irrefutable juxtaposed experience. Only then can the system update and a new pattern form.
Frequently Addressed Patterns:
These are some of the places my clients notice the old response taking over.
Anxiety, Stress & Burnout
Your mind stays ahead of the moment, even when you know there is no immediate problem.
Shame & Guilt
A small mistake of need can quickly become evidence that something is wrong with you.
Perfectionism & Performance
The standards keep moving, and rest can feel harder to justify than overdoing it.
Relational Dynamics
You find yourself in familiar roles or reactions, even when you want more choice.
“Forced Rest” - Chronic Fatigue & Pain
Your system has been carrying more than it can for a long time.
Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms (OCD)
A thought, doubt, or urge keeps demanding certainty before you can move on.
Childhood Emotional Neglect
You learned to manage alone so early that receiving attention or support can feel unfamiliar.
Book a Free Consultation
Research shows the fit between client and therapist predicts outcomes more than any single method.
A free 15-minute consultation is a chance to hear each other out and see whether working together feels like a fit—no pressure.
Live outside in CA, WA, VA, or FL?