Who I Work With
Some of the women I work with come in with a diagnosis they've carried for years. Some come in having just learned that what they've been living with is OCD, after years of being misdiagnosed or misunderstood. Others are harder to categorize: they're anxious, they're stuck, they know they want to make a pivot but anxiety keeps making them feel small.
What they share is this: they're people pleasers, perfectionists, women who absorbed definitions of who they were supposed to be and they are done with being small. They spend too much time overthinking and not enough time living their lives. They want to figure out who they actually are without anxiety and OCD making decisions for them. They want to date themselves, to figure out what they actually want without outdated stories narrating every move.
Reaching their therapy goals is just the beginning.
They want to learn skills they can generalize into the future and into new goals they couldn't have imagined they could accomplish.
Why This Work Creates Real Change
I'm trained in ERP, exposure and response prevention, the gold standard treatment for OCD. I'm also trained in ACT, acceptance and commitment therapy, which helps you change your relationship to anxious thoughts rather than fighting them.
You cannot talk or think yourself out of anxiety. If that worked, you would be better by now. Avoidance feels like relief but every time you avoid, you send your brain the message that what you avoided was actually dangerous. The loop gets louder.
ERP interrupts that. Exposures are designed as experiments, a chance to see what is actually dangerous. From that experience your brain learns what is safe. You can feel anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and discomfort and still be safe. Still move forward.
We start with your specific goals. But my favorite part of this work is what comes after, when we take those skills and generalize them beyond your therapy goals into goals you couldn't have imagined you could accomplish. This is when clients start creating their own exposures, sometimes ones I never would have thought of, not just to treat symptoms, but to discover who they are and what they can do without anxiety holding them back.
That's not just symptom relief.
That's a different life.
a bit about me
CREDENTIALS AND TRAINING
PhD, Clinical Psychology
Specialized OCD Postdoctoral Fellowship
BTTI Trained — Behavior Therapy Training Institute, IOCDF
Licensed in NY, TX, ND + PsyPact
Based in New York City · All sessions virtual
I'm Dr. Lauren Weathers, a clinical psychologist based in New York City.
I specialize in treating OCD and anxiety. I've spent years completing advanced training to do this work well, including a postdoctoral fellowship specifically in OCD treatment and BTTI certification through the International OCD Foundation. I am one of a small number of psychologists in New York City with this level of specialized OCD training.
I work with a small caseload on purpose. Fewer clients means you get my full attention, my pattern recognition, and someone who will remember what you said three sessions ago and connect it to what you're saying today. My goal is to run myself out of a job, to give you the skills so thoroughly that eventually you don't need me anymore.
I moved to New York because I do this work too. I didn't want to play small, and I knew the life I wanted could only be cultivated here. I'm here defying my own perfectionism, learning to rest without guilt, and doing the things that Lauren, free of anxiety, always wanted to do. Sketching in famous art museums. Walking along the Hudson. Sitting in coffee shops and journaling. Exploring neighborhoods and learning the histories and communities that built them. Being genuinely moved by the fact that in New York, everyone is living their life unapologetically and I can too.
I'm not here to talk you out of your anxiety. I'm here to teach you how you can change your relationship to anxiety and live a life that is authentically yours.
"She's extremely talented in treating a wide variety of anxiety disorders, especially trauma and OCD. She's also a very warm clinician and knows how to use humor to lighten the mood. I strongly recommend working with her."
Adam Sattler, PhD, LP
"Dr. Lauren Weathers is a very knowledgeable psychologist who is well trained in treating anxiety disorders. She brings warmth and empathy into sessions as she helps her clients meet their treatment goals."
Jameeka Moore, PsyD
"Dr. Lauren is incredibly knowledgeable and skilled in treating OCD & anxiety. She has a collaborative, empowering approach perfect for highly motivated women who want to clarify values and life direction. Her use of humor makes her relatable and human."
Samantha Rae, PsyD
LAURENWEATHERS
IN NEW YORK CITY
For women figuring out who they are beyond their anxiety.