Lara Ashbaugh

Lara Ashbaugh is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) practicing in Missouri. She brings about 10 years of clinical experience helping people navigate stress, anxiety, depression, and major life changes. Her style is warm and interactive, and she aims to treat each person with respect and compassion.

She often combines cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy in sessions. Lara also uses elements of dialectical behavior therapy to help people build emotion regulation and coping skills. Mindfulness and a focus on strengths are part of how she works with clients.

Lara has supported people facing grief, trauma and abuse, addiction concerns, and challenges around self-esteem and body image. She also addresses career stress, parenting strain, caregiver burnout, and complex issues such as dissociation or gender dysphoria. Her background includes roles as a therapist, supervisor, and teacher.

In sessions she listens first, then tailors a plan to the person’s goals and daily life. Conversations aim to be practical and skill-focused, not full of jargon. She looks for what is already working and helps build from there.

If someone is ready to take steps toward change, Lara offers collaborative support and coaching. Prospective clients are asked to use the site process to match and schedule a first appointment.

How therapy approaches shape online work

Lara uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to guide much of her work. CBT looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors connect and teaches practical skills to change unhelpful patterns. ACT focuses on values and committed action, helping people move toward what matters even when emotions are difficult.

She also draws from Dialectical Behavior Therapy to teach emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness skills when those areas are important. These approaches are described plainly in session, and exercises or skills practice are tailored to everyday life and the person’s goals.

Finding the right approach is a team effort. Lara will work with each person to figure out what fits their needs and preferences, and can adapt methods as progress unfolds. The goal is collaborative planning so sessions feel useful and relevant.

Session formats are not specified here, so confirm current options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule, allow for shorter check-ins when needed, and remove travel time. It also lets people use written or in-session exercises between meetings to practice skills in real settings.