Laura Nessler

Therapist

Laura Nessler, LCSW (she/her) is a licensed clinical social worker. She holds a master’s degree in social work from Loyola University Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in English and Drama from the University of Virginia. She is certified in EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing), completed her Level 1 Internal Family Systems (IFS) training from the IFS Institute, and recently trained in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT). As much as she loves acronyms, her most impactful learning has come from the space she’s shared with clients.

Laura’s therapeutic style is warm, curious and collaborative. She believes that people heal through relationships – the very thing often compromised by trauma. She uses a combination of parts work, which seeks to normalize having different parts of self, often with competing desires, EMDR, and existential frameworks to reconnect clients to their agency and capacity to form healthy attachments. Laura’s experience ranges from leading an interdisciplinary team working with individuals with complex medical and mental health needs, coordinating the psychiatric program for a mental health nonprofit, and engaging in outpatient therapy in a community mental health setting.  

Laura also recognizes that people exist in context. And forces of oppression (such as racism, misogyny, transphobia, and fatphobia, to name a few) have profound effects on health and well-being. Laura encourages clients to name these forces, and reassign associated shame to where it belongs (hint: not with you).  Laura has a special interest in working with folks that experience chronic illness and pain, especially those with experiences that are often misunderstood or marginalized. She strives to create an environment that is disability justice-informed and HAES (Health at Every Size) aligned. Laura also has experience working with LGBTQIA+ clients and is polyam and kink affirming. 

Outside of the therapy room, Laura is an amateur fiction writer, very amateur cello player and a professional-level dog enthusiast.