Dr. Chris Lawrence, Ph.D. SEP

Meet Chris

Chris Lawrence is a mom, partner, knitter, camper, hiker, licensed clinical psychologist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner.  She has worked in residential and outpatient substance abuse treatment, as a professor of Psychology at the second oldest women’s college in the US and most recently as the Director of a large private practice (Chris Lawrence & Associates, LLC) and a nonprofit (HeartSpace Clinic).  Her training in Psychology focused on “mental illness”, “diagnosis” and “cognitive treatment” for all manner of symptoms. However, in 2016 Chris began studying somatic interventions for anxiety, trauma and depression. From the beginning of this training, she recognized that working with the body provided a path to healing that “talk therapy” did not offer. She leans into the belief that mental health and “dis-ease” are the result of context, environment and culture. 

As a somatic practitioner, Chris now sees “symptoms” as normal body adaptations to abnormal internal and/or external conditions. These conditions can be prenatal, familial, neighborhood, work or societal. Treating these “symptoms” involves a reorientation towards our resources - nature, pets, supportive others, movement, to name just a few - and a slow healing and unwinding of our nervous system to allow it to return to its natural state. Chris is an ongoing learner in the area of nervous system regulation, resilience, and the impact of traumatic stress on our bodies. Her newest passion is helping parents and babies work through birth trauma. She works directly with clients and provides supervision to students and developing clinicians. She is the founder and Director of HeartSpace Clinic, a nonprofit organization that offers a wide variety of services focused on building resilience in the face of traumatic stress through interventions that target the nervous system, including the Safe and Sound Protocol developed by Stephen Porges. She offers workshops and training on these topics to a wide variety of groups and organizations. Chris regulates her own nervous system by spending as much time as possible camping and hiking with her partner, knitting, practicing Pilates and cuddling with her chiweenie Ruby. 

Specialty Areas

• Somatic Experiencing

• Developmental and Single Incident Trauma

• Nervous System

• Birth Trauma

Payment Options

• Blue Cross Insurance

• United HC Insurance

• UMR Insurance

• Cigna Insurance

• Aetna Insurance

• Healthlink Insurance

Session Availability

• In-Person

• Telehealth