Ready to reconnect to meaning, confidence, and joy?

MEET LAUREN DUDUGJIAN, LMFT, MDIV, RELIGIOUS TRAUMA THERAPIST IN WOODINVILLE, WASHINGTON

You’ve been trying to get it right for a long time, but something is missing. You feel stuck.

Maybe it’s your faith journey...

and as you’ve tried to make sense of your experience, you’ve realized that places that used to feel safe and supportive - small groups, family, friends  – can’t hold your questions without wanting you to arrive at a certain answer. Either you intuit this, or you’ve seen it happen to others.

You’ve also realized friends on the outside rarely understand how weighty this struggle is – there’s more to it than whether you simply agree or not. While they care for you, they haven’t walked this journey personally.

You can’t find space to be honest for a minute, to begin to make sense of it all. You can’t find the space to wonder.

Maybe it’s your relationship with achievement...

and you’re discovering the constant thrum of anxiety that undergirds all you do is eroding away your ability to actually enjoy your life. This price for success seems too high, but you know you’ll keep paying it if that’s what it takes.

Is it what it takes, though?

You want to believe there is another way, but are terrified of trying something different.

What if you’re wrong?

It’s exhausting, confusing, and lonely.

I’m Lauren -

I’m a psychotherapist, spiritual contemplative, and recovering perfectionist (to borrow a term from our patron saint Brené Brown).

And I don’t believe that you were meant to feel stuck, anxious, and isolated. Your longings are not a mistake. In fact, I’m convinced they’re meant to guide you to a place of peace and connection.

But – and here’s the rub – you must commit to listening to them and following the path they lay out before you. And that’s risky - you don’t know where this path leads!

But you don’t have to do it alone. I can come alongside you to support your deep searching and help you give this process the attention it absolutely deserves – FREE from any expectations or pressure to arrive at a particular conclusion.

See, my superpower is curiosity. In our journey together, I bring my training and talent for good questions to help you explore your world and the things that have shaped who you are, dive deep into your story and most significant motivations, and find clarity and take courage to live the life you’re longing for.

Therapy with me feels like a conversation…

(I want to add “over coffee” because I will always have coffee).

I ask a lot of questions. Like, genuine questions, not leading therapy-y questions we both know the “right” answer to. My questions guide you to explore during our time together, and your discoveries shape what I’m curious about next. This collaborative exploration allows us to follow where your attention is focused so that you can meaningfully encounter what’s most important to you.

Often I’ll hear from clients things like: 

“I’ve never really thought about that before”

“I hadn’t considered how those experiences were connected”

“Even as I’m saying it out loud now, I’m realizing for the first time…”

And this is very often joy-filled work. Laughter and humor go right alongside the depth. And that makes sense because curiosity brings out our instinct to play!

  • Excited to learn about themselves 

  • Curious about the many parts of their experience (thoughts, memories, emotions, body sensations) 

  • Eager to reflect on past chapters in their story so they can find healing and full connection in the present

  • Longing for connection, meaning, and joy  

  • Willing to give themselves the time this process needs

I work well with clients who are:

What’s it like to work together?

  • I want to get to know you! What does your day to day look like? Who are your close people? What are your hobbies, strengths, talents, passions, dreams? What makes you, YOU?

  • We’ll explore what you hope to get from the therapy process. This may include some short-term targets, as well as long-term transformation. These will serve as a guide for our work together. We’ll also take stock of what you’ve tried before, what’s worked, what hasn’t, and we’ll build up your list of go-to’s for feeling good and taking care when things get tough. 

  • We’ll take time to richly understand your world – this includes your personal life story (which actually starts with your family’s history from even before you were born!) and also includes multiple layers of larger socioeconomic forces (like culture, religion, sex and gender norms, socioeconomic factors, racism, classism, trauma, etc.). We’ll look at key events and relationships in your life to form a rich picture of how you understand yourself and your world. 

  • As we explore what’s impacted you the most and hold it up to the light of your longing, you will notice things start to change. New questions will come to you. Different options and steps forward will become apparent. In essence, your perspective on your life will shift repeatedly, each vantage giving you something new to consider. From this place, you may begin to feel ready to take a step further on your path. This step will lead to another new vantage point, and so on!

  • As you meet your milestones, we will take time to reflect: Where are you now? What are your new perspectives and conclusions? What are your new questions? How is this transformation showing up in your life? What’s next? We will add this most recent chapter to your story and reflect on its significance. This is also a time when sharing your story with supportive witnesses can be a beautiful marker of your journey. We will make sure you’ve accomplished what you hoped and celebrate all your amazing hard work!

Therapy should be 100% about your journey. Am I the right therapist to walk with you?

Deciding to take up your own space in therapy is a big decision in your healing journey. Chances are, you’ve been curious about it for a while.

You’ve likely looked at other resources, too! And there are many; podcasts and books are amazing, and thankfully more and more are coming out every year! I frequently recommend specific ones to clients, and I find they’re often helpful. The thing they don’t provide is the space to reflect and decide how their content impacts YOU and your journey. You may have read books and listened to podcasts, but still find yourself unsure what the right path for you is. In fact, you may feel more confused!

And when you consider therapy, the question “with who?” comes up! You want to talk to someone who understands your experience, who will put your values first, and who will invite your exploration rather than telling you what they think is best for you. That may feel like a tall order, and starting therapy only to be disappointed would be devastating. I get it.

In our relationship I wear a few hats.

First, I’m a trained therapist, which means my job is literally to put your growth and benefit front and center, and I am equipped with the training and skills to do that.

Second, I have formal training in theology and religious studies, so I am uniquely able to assist you in an informed way as you navigate these important questions for yourself, if such inquiry is part of your journey in therapy.

Third, I have lived and navigated these experiences myself. I’m very familiar with church culture and the experience of questioning. I also understand firsthand the complicated relationships that anxious high achievers experience between success, anxiety, and identity.

My clients describe me as warm, down-to-earth, easy to talk to, enthusiastic, and able to sit in the hard stuff with them. While this work can be weighty and winding, it’s also a joy. I’ve seen it transform others’ lives. I’ve experienced this transformation myself. And I believe to my bones that it is deeply, profoundly important.

I come to this work because it’s where my own path has led me! I’ve journeyed alongside friends and family as they’ve navigated these questions. And I’ve walked this path myself. I understand the struggle to find a place that feels safe enough to get honest and wrestle with these important questions. I know the anxiety, fear, and loneliness of shouldering them alone.

My own journey led me to spend over a decade in focused study, research, and training around these experiences from a wide range of perspectives across multiple disciplines. I am continually studying these topics and always learning more. I’ll bring what I learn into our work together if I think it will be helpful for you!

What brings me to this work:

My approach is:

Person-Centered

The quality of our relationship – that you feel at ease, comfortable, fully understood, and that you trust I am working for your benefit – is the essential foundation that our time together builds from.

Nonjudgmental

Every conversation I have with you comes from genuine curiosity. I do not assume I know the nuances and contours of your life. Instead, I ask you and prioritize your experiences. I commit to meeting your story with openness and nonjudgement, regardless of how similar or different it is from my own!

Strengths-Based

I assume you are always doing the best you can with the skills you have. I utilize your skills, strengths, and talents in your growth.

Systemic

In therapy we will consider the impact of larger systems (social, political, geographic) on your life, and also approach your experience as multifaceted and complex (bio-psycho-social-sexual-spiritual, for example).

Collaborative

Therapy “happens” in the relationship between me and you – when we dialogue and build off of each other in the moment, we co-create something new, unique, and transformative! You are an active agent in this process!

Trauma-Informed

When something happens that overwhelms the body’s capacity to make sense and feel safe in the world, this overwhelm impacts the body’s functioning, and can manifest in many forms of suffering. I approach and treat experiences that are confusing, frustrating, or frightening from this perspective. I am also trained in providing EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) Therapy, which is an internationally-recognized form of trauma treatment.

Inclusive

I practice from an anti-oppression and anti-racist lens and continually seek to embody these ethics in my own life. All races, ethnicities, ages, abilities, documentation statuses, gender identities, and sexual orientations are welcomed and affirmed here.

Specializing in

Credentials

Education and Licensure

  • Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist(Washington) #LF61595210

  • Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy from Seattle Pacific University 

  • Master of Divinity in Theology from Seattle Pacific Seminary 

  • Bachelor of Arts with dual majors in Neuroscience and Religious Studies from Vanderbilt University

Training and Modalities

  • EMDRIA-approved EMDR Therapist

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS) Immersion 

  • Foundations for Treating Religious Trauma 

  • Narrative Therapy

  • Solution - Focused Therapy 

  • Prepare/Enrich Premarital Counseling

Professional Affiliations

  • AAMFT Member

  • WAMFT Member

  • Religious Trauma Therapists Network

  • Religious Trauma Institute 

  • Certified Clinical Trauma Professionals

Let’s Connect!