"Counseling can help a person to feel less alone, to recognize that they are not ‘going crazy’, and to feel understood and supported.” ~Lara Palay
"I found Lara to be so helpful during my anxious pregnancy and postpartum experience! I remember being so excited to talk to her after the birth of my second child to really talk through my birth experience and anxieties etc. She’s such a wonderful therapist and helped me so much during some hard times! She's so chill and non-judgmental, which I truly appreciated.
"Lara has helped me through my son's cancer treatment as well as trauma from my childhood. In her work, she has a perfect mix of compassion, understanding and relatability. She created a safe space for me to share my experiences and to learn so many things about myself while helping me to feel less alone in my journey. She is very knowledgeable in the field and worked to identify what tools and approaches worked best for me. Through my time with her, I've been able to find kindness toward myself, strength, confidence, and happiness to enjoy and share with my loved ones. I know I have the tools for the future from our time together. I truly am so thankful to have found Lara."
“I have worked with Lara for over three years and can attest to her compassion, intellect, and kindness. I first sought counseling after a sudden death in my immediate family. My sessions with Lara have been consistently restorative and healing, from our first meeting. Initially, I learned concrete techniques to deal with the day-to-day challenges posed by grief and trauma. Over the longer term, I have worked with Lara to truly navigate this fundamental shift in my life, better understanding both my path to this point and my hope for what lies beyond.
“Lara is an immensely skilled therapist with remarkable gifts of communication and connection. Her knowledgeable counseling, warm humor, and reliable encouragement have helped me to regain my footing after a terrible and difficult time; what’s more, I’m now on steadier ground than I’ve ever known.”
“Kerry is my ‘feelings Sherpa’. I began therapy with a happy life shadowed by resentment and disdain. I felt like I was stuck, and I couldn’t quite figure out what was preventing me from appreciating and enjoying all the great things in my life. Kerry was able to take in my unfiltered stream of consciousness week after week and provide me with insightful themes for between sessions.
Kerry gave me a new ‘decoder ring’ every session through which I shaped my life between sessions. Her insights are profound, yet simple. Everyone holds the key to their life; Kerry can help you find yours.”
“’I would talk with her about ANYTHING.’ This is what another counselor gushed when recommending Lara to me, and I feel the same way now! Lara has been a tremendous help and encouragement in my life. She has helped me through numerous issues with my huge family. Somehow - no matter how long it’s been since we’ve talked - she still remembers everyone’s names and histories and helps me untangle the mess. But she does all this on my terms, gently nudging in different directions, but never forcing me to go to places I’m not ready for. She speaks with a lot of visual metaphors, which are really helpful for me in understanding the psychology of why. I find myself repeating as a mantra some of the things she’s said, and I definitely use the techniques she’s taught me to help make it through whatever this crazy life throws at me. I can’t thank her enough for being a safe place for my heart and mind when things are rough, for sitting there with me in the sad parts, for laughing with me through the wildest parts, and for helping me sort it all out and make sense of things like a good friend (a good friend with so much helpful knowledge and experience!).”
“I first met with Lara during the fall of 2013. It was immediately evident that she had a genuine interest in me, not only as a cancer survivor but as a person as well. It is also quite evident that Lara loves what she does.
“Lara is not only extremely knowledgeable in her field, she is exceptionally sensitive to her clients’ personal situation and the challenges faced by cancer patients and survivors. She is particularly concerned with ensuring the client is never pushed too far into something they don't want to do. This resulted in my being very comfortable discussing my challenges with her, some of which I had not shared with anyone before.
“Lara has made a lasting impression on my life and I know she will do the same for other children and families.”
“It's not just a part of your life, cancer. It is your life. It permeates everything you do, how you interact with the world, and the decisions you make. But the problem is, that's not allowed when you're not the patient. So, what's allowed? What's okay? How do you navigate the world when you're the parent, the aunt, the niece, or, in my case, the sister?
“That's where Lara comes in. She provided me with the map. The tools. The strength to deal with the aftermath of my sister's cancer because, believe me, there's aftermath.
“I think in visual metaphors. Sometimes life is like a ball of yarn. Before sessions I would feel like there was a tangle, or 10. That's messy, knotted, up tangled. It's beyond repair. Every time I would talk to her, we would untangle a little piece of that knot. One part at a time. Eventually that knot became one long piece of string again.
“The most incredible thing is that now, when it inevitably gets knotted up again, I have the tools and knowledge I need to untangle it myself. I didn't just get help navigating my sister's cancer. I got help navigating life.”
“Lara has been and continues to be one of the keys to my family surviving a childhood cancer diagnosis. She is able to normalize an event that is anything but normal. Her ability to relate to my patient child, my sibling child and myself also allowed all of us to express feelings that would have otherwise caused us guilt.
“Thank you! You are a beacon to us!”