Lara Peter, LCPC

Lara Peter is a licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC) based in Maryland. She brings ten years of direct therapy experience and focuses on helping adults with concerns such as stress, anxiety, grief, depression, relationship strain, addiction, and ADHD. Lara aims to create a nonjudgmental space where people can speak openly and move at a pace that feels manageable.

She emphasizes listening closely and reflecting what clients share to build self-awareness. Sessions focus on practical steps and feedback as well as understanding patterns that contribute to pain or stuckness. Her background includes work in outpatient, residential, school, and university settings, which shapes a flexible approach to different life situations.

Lara uses client-centered methods that prioritize the person’s goals and perspective. She also draws on solution-focused techniques to identify small, achievable changes and on cognitive behavioral ideas to help shift unhelpful thinking patterns. Motivational interviewing appears in her work when people need help finding internal reasons to change.

Her style is collaborative and straightforward. She offers tools and resources alongside conversation, so therapy combines emotional processing with clear next steps. Lara often helps people with body image, attachment and abandonment issues, eating and food-related struggles, caregiver stress, and forgiveness work.

If someone wants to begin, the process starts with a short matching questionnaire and scheduling that fits the person’s needs. Lara supports people through life transitions, coping with loss, and rebuilding steady routines after disruption.

How these approaches guide online work

Client-centered therapy focuses on listening closely and following the client's lead. The therapist reflects what is shared and helps people clarify their own goals and values, which can help with issues like self-esteem, attachment concerns, and grief.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions. It helps people notice unhelpful thinking patterns and try small behavioral experiments to reduce anxiety, improve sleep, or address mood changes.

Motivational interviewing helps people find their own reasons to change. It is useful when someone feels stuck or ambivalent about addressing addictions, eating issues, or other patterns they want to alter.

Finding the right approach is part of the work itself. Lara will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit their goals and preferences, and she adjusts the mix as progress unfolds. Clients help set priorities and direct pacing so sessions stay relevant to their lives.

Confirm the therapist's current session options before booking, as formats are not specified here. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, reduce travel time, allow shorter check-ins, or avoid the need to be on camera when that feels better. These practical benefits often help people maintain steady work between sessions without promising any particular format.