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Dr. Laura Thoreson, Psychologist

Experienced mental health professional

Provides online counseling through BetterHelp

At a glance

Laura is an experienced, licensed Mental Health Professional who specializes in affordable online therapy offered through our partner, BetterHelp.

4.5 stars
Clients are very satisfied with Laura. View 60 reviews
Speaks English
Offers Telehealth visits
Licensed in California

Recent reviews

Dr. Thoreson has truly changed my life. Our sessions have helped me in so many ways I see and even more I probably don’t. Highly recommend

Reviewed November 2024

Dr. Thoreson is an amazing therapist. She offers a wide range of valuable resources. She celebrates and appreciates me even when I feel awful or an absolute mess. Her guidance continues to bring my life, my spirit, and my reality to new and beautiful perspectives and opportunities. I am so very grateful to have the opportunity to work with her.

Reviewed September 2024

More about Laura

  • 11 years' experience
  • Female
  • Psychologist

Thank you for taking the time to review my profile! I am honored to be a part of the BetterHelp therapist site. There are many talented therapists to choose from and this decision is an important one. Hopefully the information provided below will help your decision making process.

I earned a doctorate in clinical psychology and a masters in theology. My education and clinical experiences have introduced me to a crucial question: what does it mean to be human? Being human incorporates emotions, behaviors, thoughts, spirituality, relationships, and physical health. It is impossible to divorce these aspects of humanity from each other, although at times it may appear desirable to do so. Growing in understanding of how these pieces of humanity interact and impact each other is important in improving: stress management, communication and interaction with loved ones, pain management, adjusting to life changes, grieving, identity development, and personal growth.

The training and professional experience I have received focuses in 3 areas: health and clinical psychology, and spirituality. Health: chronic pain, insomnia, hypersomnia, fatigue, weight loss, medication/ treatment compliance, and cancer diagnosis/treatment. Clinical: depression, anxiety, grief/loss, change/transition, stress management, marital/couples concerns, identity changes, and body image concerns. Spirituality: understanding the role of suffering, seeking renewal in spiritual journey, desiring spiritual community, pursuing an intimate spiritual relationship, healing from spiritual community wounds, and spiritual practices/disciplines.

I look forward to the opportunity to meet you and come alongside you in your pursuit of support, growth, and transformation!

Specialties

Stress Anxiety Relationship issues Grief Self esteem Coping with life changes Intimacy-related issues Sleeping disorders Career difficulties Coaching Compassion fatigue Abandonment Aging and geriatric issues Cancer Caregiver issues and stress Commitment issues Communication problems Emptiness Forgiveness Guilt and shame Isolation / loneliness Life purpose Self-love Sexuality Women's issues Workplace issues Young adult issues

Treatment Approaches

  • Client-Centered Therapy
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
  • Existential Therapy
  • Imago Relationship Therapy
  • Mindfulness Therapy
  • Psychodynamic Therapy
  • Internal Family Systems

Licenses

Dr. Laura Thoreson's National Provider Identifier (NPI) is 1699187906.

  • Psychologist · California · 26374 · Expires February 2026

About online counseling

Affordable.
Pay a low flat fee.
Convenient.
Do it at your own time and at your own pace. Communicate whenever you feel it's needed.
Available now.
There is no waiting list and no calls to make. Simply fill out a short questionnaire and send your first message.

Online counseling, also known as teletherapy, is a method of delivering mental health services through digital means such as video conferencing, phone calls, or messaging platforms. It can be an ideal option for individuals who have difficulty accessing traditional therapy due to geographical distance, time constraints, or personal preferences like privacy and comfort. Many people find it easier to open up from the familiarity of their own space.

Teletherapy has been found to be highly effective, with studies showing that it can produce similar outcomes to in-person therapy, particularly for issues like anxiety, depression, and PTSD. The flexibility and accessibility it offers make it a valuable alternative to conventional therapy settings.

Reviews for Dr. Laura Thoreson

All reviews have been submitted by clients after seeing the provider.

Overall rating:

4.5

60 reviews

5
4
3
2
1

Clients mention: Recommend Amazing Great Helped Support Understanding The best Grateful Listens Safe

Dr. Thoreson has truly changed my life. Our sessions have helped me in so many ways I see and even more I probably don’t. Highly recommend

Reviewed November 2024

Dr. Thoreson is an amazing therapist. She offers a wide range of valuable resources. She celebrates and appreciates me even when I feel awful or an absolute mess. Her guidance continues to bring my life, my spirit, and my reality to new and beautiful perspectives and opportunities. I am so very grateful to have the opportunity to work with her.

Reviewed September 2024

Dr. Thoreson will be kind and encouraging. For the men out there, she will find ways to really hear you and in turn share what you need to hear. It has been my honor to work with her these past 2.5 years

Reviewed July 2024

Dr. Thoreson is kind, polite and very knowledgeable. She is encouraging, keeps me grounded and always reminds me of my value and importance. She listens and always remembers the fine details of what I tell her. She is always professional but relatable and extremely personable at the same time. I would recommend her to anyone seeking therapy. I consider myself very lucky to have been paired with her and she has helped me to improve myself in all areas of my life.

Reviewed July 2024

I feel comfortable with Dr. Thoreson. She is the person that I can be my authentic self. I don’t have to hide my thoughts and feelings. I love my family and friends but I can ‘t always talk openly without being judged.

Reviewed June 2024

I have really enjoye working with Dr. Thoreson. She is a great listener and has wonderful insights and understanding. I have been comfortable from the outset sharing things with her and know she will provide honest and consistent feedback and support.

Reviewed April 2024

Dr. Thoreson is very empathetic and in tune with her clients feelings and concerns. She listens and really cares about her clients. I’m thankful I met her!

Reviewed April 2024

She’s helped me so much. I could not recommend her enough!

Reviewed March 2024

Dr. Thoreson has an extremely calm demeanor, she is kind and listens to everything you tell her. She is very smart and her practice she has told me is rooted in neuroscience and she has many alternative perspectives and useful techniques for managing stress and anxiety. She is personable and a lovely human being and anyone would be lucky to have her as a therapist!

Reviewed March 2024

Dr. Thoreson has your back

Reviewed February 2024

Dr. Thoreson is very professional and one of the best therapists I have found so far on Better Help. They are definitely not all created equal. She is insightful and very caring. She is helpful in assisting me in ways to open my ideas and work through them. I really appreciate her.

Reviewed January 2024

She’s an answered prayer and I’m confident she is the same for all she encounters.

Reviewed April 2022

Dr. Thoreson is not only an expert in her field but a tremendous encouragement. She is wise and always helps me to be rooted in the truth of who God says I am. I have been so blessed to have her as my counselor.

Reviewed April 2021

Dr. Thoreson is a wonderful psychologist! Her support and encouragement has made a definite change in my thinking process. I feel blessed to have her as my Doctor.

Reviewed January 2024

I am delighted to share my overwhelmingly positive experience with my therapist Dr. Laura Thoreson. Over the past two years, she has consistently demonstrated unwavering support, standing by me through moments of grief, joy, hardships, loss, and transitions. This steadfast commitment and invaluable guidance have truly made a significant and positive difference in my life. I wholeheartedly recommend Dr. Laura to anyone seeking compassionate and effective support on their journey.

Reviewed November 2023

Dr. Thoreson has been lovely! I am so grateful to be able to work with her. She provides a safe space and has great suggestions as I navigate through trauma and challenging moments.

Reviewed November 2023

Dr. Thoreson is literally the best. I could write an entire novel about how amazing she is but I shan’t. The best therapist I’ve ever had.

Reviewed November 2023

Dr. Thoreson has changed my life! I am so honored to work with someone with such rich depth of compassion, understanding and resources! We laugh, I cry, we move through the session each week with ease, knowing her skills, her ideas and her guidance will bring peace, joy, and a new way to honor me, my growth and my connection to the world. I have brought hard, challenging, complex issues, and she always has something new for me to try, some new way to frame it, some way to consider it differently. The growth I experience while working with her, monumental, and so rewarding. She's just amazing.

Reviewed August 2023

Dr Thoreson is awesome. Everyone has a different experience but I've found her to be an amazing support, and resource in my life since we've had our time!

Reviewed August 2023

Dr Thoreson is a phenomenal practitioner! Her skill, compassion, enthusiasm and passion for both the client and the research provide tremendous opportunity for healing and growth. I am so fortunate to be working with her as I struggle with some persistent issues. She listens, guides and celebrates the deepest parts of a person's whole self, giving such generous validation and compassion.

Reviewed March 2023

Dr. Thoreson have been amazing therapist and being my first time with a therapist she have made me rethink therapy. She has been very understanding of the reason why I’m there and she make sure you feel great about the steps you need to improve yourself. She has a great way on dealing with her therapy methods where she listen and talks to you about how to make it better.

Reviewed February 2023

Very supportive and insightful, provided tools for navigating issues I was having.

Reviewed February 2023

Talking to Dr. Thoreson has changed my look on things. I’m starting to heal in areas that I don’t share with many people. I’m working on trust and self esteem and boundaries.

Reviewed February 2023

After just a few sessions, Dr Thoreson helped me with some issues that had been bothering me for a long time. She listened so closely to me and gave me concrete coping strategies that really worked. I'm so grateful to have found her.

Reviewed January 2023

Dr. Laura is a caring, insightful professional with an expertise for making her clients feel listened to. She helped me through some very challenging years of my life, gently leading me to find resolve through techniques for managing anxiety, and a wise guidance. The best!

Reviewed January 2023

Sometimes all you need is someone to hear you and Dr. Thoreson is amazing at that. She gave me the visualization technique that i applied during the Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family and it was great to have that in hand.

Reviewed November 2022

Dr Thoreson is teaching me to embody and embrace being a whole person, a "phenomenal woman." The chronic pain, other people and their pathologies, don't determine who I am. And Dr. Thoreson's resourcefulness, inteligence, and genreosity of spirit are guiding me to the truth about who I am, all of my attributes and all of my strengths, while I face the world, the grief, and life. I've always been afraid to have the life that I want, to tell myself when I get "there" I can have it, and Dr Thoreson is teaching me that I can embrace life right now, that I can be myself, live for myself right now. She's a tremendous gift to my healing and my living.

Reviewed November 2022

The Best!

Reviewed September 2022

Most helpful therapist, counselor, advisor, ...I've ever had

Reviewed September 2022

Dr. Thoreson has made starting therapy an easy experience. She listens and provides support, compassionate perspectives, and helpful suggestions to help address tough situations and behaviors I want to change.

Reviewed July 2022

Dr. Thoreson is an amazing, experienced doctor who has helped me work through a lot. I really appreciate that she takes the time to explain the cognitive reasons why our brain does certain things, as it helps me have a better understanding of myself. She is patient and kind and I have never felt shy or nervous when talking to her.

Reviewed June 2022

Thank you Dr. Thoreson. I greatly appreciate you.

Reviewed June 2022

I’m learning more and more about myself. Dr. Thoreson offers many suggestions and is always supportive. I’ve never met a therapist like her before. Thank you BetterHelp for this service.

Reviewed May 2022

Dr. Thoreson has changed my life and motivated me to become a better person. I couldn’t recommend her services enough.

Reviewed May 2022

Dr. Thoreson has consistently checked up on me whenever I have missed an appointment or even in between appointments when some weeks go by. I enjoy our sessions together as she straight talks me clarifying the positive or negative traits that I reveal. I would recommend her to anyone who needs a therapist.

Reviewed April 2022

Very calming and kind. Great listener and very encouraging. Highly recommend

Reviewed April 2022

Dr Thoreson's guidance is helping me to heal all the parts of me that have stayed hidden for so long. She's compassionate, guiding with tenderness and love. She's so intelligent and so familiar with techniques and knowledge of the human brain, that I feel steadfast reassurance that all my vulnerabilities are in good hands. I have had other therapists before, but working with Dr Thoreson, her ability to see all of me, build a loving and safe space for me to see and embrace all of myself, is so incredibly life changing. I can live, I can love myself, and I can have hope because of our work together.

Reviewed April 2022

Dr. Thoreson is a professional and incredible therapist. I feel very comfortable with her and she makes sure to create a safe space to be vulnerable. I'm so happy to have her as my therapist!

Reviewed April 2022

Dr Thoreson is super sweet, friendly, a good listener and very prompt. I feel supported and high recommend

Reviewed March 2022

Dr. Thoreson is a bright light in my week. I look forward to our sessions and always feel better after talking to her. She highlights areas I may be blind to with great care and sensitivity. She is expressive, sincere, and trustworthy. She provides real life examples of strategies that have helped others and guides you to make informed decisions for yourself. I am continuously impressed by her service. I feel confident she is equipped to address a variety of concerns including, burnout, anxiety, breakups, and complex work relationships. She has made me want to continue therapy.

Reviewed March 2022

Dr. Thoreson is a blend of compassion, kindness, and intelligence. I leave every session learning a new tool/concept and always feeling hopeful that I can overcome any hardship. My time with Dr. Thoreson has been a wonderful experience and anyone is lucky to have the opportunity to work with her.

Reviewed January 2022

I will always recommend Dr. Thoreson. She’s an Amazing Doctor. I feel so much better about life. Her support and therapy has given me tools to live by. I’m grateful to BetterHelp for helping me find her.

Reviewed January 2022

Dr. Thoreson is incredibly professional but also warm and friendly at the same time. She creates a safe space to share where she listens carefully and provides incredible insight and exercises to help overcome. This is the best therapist I’ve ever worked with and I’m so thankful to have found her.

Reviewed January 2022

Dr. Thoreson has changed my life in such a beautiful way. I look forward to each and every session with her and am so grateful for her expertise.

Reviewed December 2021

While most therapists will be compassionate and great listeners, what sets Dr. Thoreson apart is how she maintains that empathy while giving a more structured framework to the sessions. She is not only easy to open up to but also incredibly insightful - I will walk out of each session learning something new about myself or about how the mind works. The IFS framework in which she bases her therapy provides a unique perspective through which you can understand your ingrained patterns of behavior and the wounds that they seek to protect, which then empowers you to make the necessary changes but in a gradual, sustainable way (another way to put it would be to work on the underlying causes rather than attacking just the symptoms, which some therapists are apt to do). I appreciate the level of thoughtfulness and care that Dr. Thoreson puts into each session and can’t recommend her highly enough.

Reviewed December 2021

Dr. Thoreson is a kind, competent therapist who is genuinely seeking to help people. She’s an expert at what she does and I would recommend her to anyone seeking therapy.

Reviewed November 2021

Dr. Thoreson is attentive and present during the entire time allotment. She empowers you to explore thoughts in a way that gives you tools on how to approach issues in the future. I appreciate her tone and expressions - it indicates deep understanding and care. She creates a safe space that invites honesty and vulnerability.

Reviewed November 2021

I felt like I was working with a teammate in working through my concerns with Dr. Thoreson. She’s kind, insightful, and had ample tools to help me do some personal homework.

Reviewed November 2021

I’m so surprised how much Dr. Thoreson and I get through each session. Each time I come away with a new perspective or a new way to tackle an issue that I have. I’m excited to continuing working with her.

Reviewed June 2021

Simply Amazing! I’m feeling better already in the short time. I’m grateful for this service. I already recommend BetterHelp to my friends and family.

Reviewed June 2021

Dr. Thoreson has shown me how to get my confidence back and understand how to find myself again she’s the best and I would recommend her to everyone

Reviewed May 2021

I was hesitant to start therapy but so glad I did once I started talking to Dr Thoreson. She has a very comforting tone and voice and she takes time to make sure I feel like I’m being heard. It’s amazing she remembers my issues and progress from week to week. Extremely lucky I was matched with Dr Thoreson.

Reviewed May 2021

Dr. Thoreson is supportive and encouraging.

Reviewed April 2021

So supportive, understanding, loving, and caring. She really tries to understand you and what is going on in your life. I could not recommend her highly enough.

Reviewed February 2021

I didn't know what it was like to have a decent therapist, and was worried at the start I would be throwing money down the drain on something that wouldn't help me, as it was a sizeable amount. However, my fears soon melted away as I got to know Dr. Thoreson better and through the exercises and perspectives that she shared with me, allowed me to view the world in a new light. I feel very lucky that I got to have her as a therapist and gave BetterHealth a decent chance.

Reviewed February 2021

Dr Thoreson has been incredibly compassionate and helpful in directing growth and understanding an issue. Highly recommend her

Reviewed February 2021

Laura was honestly a perfect match when it came to my confusing crisis and always made me feel supported no matter what I chose.

Reviewed January 2021

Dr. Thoreson is fantastic! I highly recommend her.

Reviewed January 2021

I wanna thank Dr. Thoreson for all the helps she has given to me during my difficult moments. She gives a safe space for me to talk about my problems and helps me sort out my feelings and thoughts. She guides me through my problems and validate my feelings. She asked me several questions that makes me think about myself, in a good way though. I feel better about myself after the counseling sessions with her.

Reviewed January 2021

I enjoy and look forward to talking to Dr. Thoreson. I feel like I’m talking to a friend who really understands me, is patient, and guides me. She makes me feel heard and complimented. I trust her.

Reviewed November 2020

How was your experience with Laura?

Frequently asked questions

Does Dr. Laura Thoreson offer telehealth visits?

Yes. Dr. Laura Thoreson works with clients by exchanging messages, chatting live, speaking over the phone, or video conferencing based on what works for the client at that particular time.

What language(s) does Dr. Laura Thoreson speak?

Dr. Laura Thoreson speaks English.

How many years of experience does Dr. Laura Thoreson have?

Dr. Laura Thoreson has 11 years of experience.

Where is Dr. Laura Thoreson licensed to practice?

Dr. Laura Thoreson is licensed to practice in California.

Does Dr. Laura Thoreson accept clients outside of the United States?

No, Dr. Laura Thoreson does not accept clients outside of the United States.

Is online therapy as effective as in-person therapy?

Numerous studies support the effectiveness of online platforms in facilitating life changes. For instance, research published by JMIR Publications, conducted by teams from the University of Berkeley, UCSF, and SF General Hospital, found that "users of BetterHelp experienced significantly reduced depression symptom severity after engaging with the platform."

What treatment approaches does Dr. Laura Thoreson offer?

Dr. Laura Thoreson offers clients Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Existential Therapy, Imago Relationship Therapy, Mindfulness Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, and Internal Family Systems.

How can I communicate with Dr. Laura Thoreson?

Dr. Laura Thoreson can be engaged in any one of four ways: (1) Exchanging messages, (2) chatting live, (3) speaking over the phone, or (4) video conferencing. You can use different ways at different times as you wish, based on your needs, availability, and convenience.

How do I get started with Dr. Laura Thoreson?

Just tap the CHAT NOW button or tap here: A new window will open and you'll be directed to a simple form that will help start the conversation. Please note: It can take up to a few days to be matched to a therapist.

Mental health conditions are real, common, and treatable.

And recovery is possible.

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Phone
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When you tap CHAT NOW a new window will open and you'll be directed to a simple form that will help start the conversation. Please note: It can take up to a few days to be matched to a therapist.