Our mission is to encourage individual and communal healing by staying at the forefront of the therapeutic field and offering the most up-to-date integrative therapy modalities – allowing us to provide the most effective care to every client seeking treatment. We strive to inspire integration in our client’s whole being by invigorating their brain, body, and spirit and encouraging healing across generations and communities.
There are many paths to healing, and we are committed to finding the pieces that fit together for each client to help them reach their fullest sense of self. We are centered on our clients and seeing them in the fullness of their humanity–we do not see people as a diagnosis or what happened to them. We see them as people who are looking for more, and we want to help them get there.
Our Philosophy
The Trauma & Attachment Lens
What is trauma? This is a word that is now buzzing about in our daily language, but what are we at Pittsburgh Center for Integrative Therapy talking about when we say “trauma?” Trauma is an event that overwhelms one’s resources in the central nervous system–something that happens that is “too much, too fast, too soon.” When a person feels like they cannot keep themselves safe with a fight, flight or freeze response, they can become traumatized due to not being able to integrate and digest this event in their system. Leading trauma researcher Dr. Bessel van der Kolk states, “Being traumatized means continuing to organize your life as if the trauma were still going on–unchanged and immutable–as every new encounter and event is contaminated by the past” (The Body Keeps the Score).
Unresolved trauma can leave you feeling triggered by stimuli in your environment and relationships. You may experience anxiety, panic attacks, flashbacks, nightmares, relationship challenges, chronic pain, depression, and numbness, among other symptoms. You might feel like you could never talk about what happened to you, or maybe you feel like you have been talking about it for so long but you can’t move on with your life. The trapped stress responses held in our nervous systems from trauma often cannot be resolved by only talking about it. This can leave you feeling like you are just trying to manage symptoms, without getting to the root cause.
At Pittsburgh Center for Integrative Therapy, our therapists are trained in modalities that do not just focus on what you know about your experience but how you can feel differently about what you might already know. You might know you are safe now, but do you feel safe? We want to help you process what might be held in your system, unresolved, so that your mind and body can reintegrate. Whether that is after a shock trauma, chronic childhood trauma, or from surviving the difficulties of life, trauma therapy can be helpful for a wide range of people, regardless of a diagnosis like PTSD.
Attachment styles may be another term you see on social media or hear in conversation. What does it mean, and why does it matter? Our experience of security in relationships with other people in the world helps us feel like we are not on our own to survive. This can enable security in ourselves that can foster empathic and supportive relationships with others. When someone has experienced attachment trauma (such as abuse or neglect from caregivers in childhood) or attachment wounding (caregivers unable to meet the emotional needs of a child), they can continue to live out of these survival patterns into adulthood. The mechanisms a child intuitively learns to survive when they are dependent on unsafe adults for care can sometimes inhibit resilience and healthy connection in relationships in adulthood.
The relationship with the therapist itself becomes an arena for a trusting and safe relationship to unfold. Not only are we focused on a safe therapeutic alliance, but we also want to identify parts of clients that may have helped them survive attachment trauma and wounding in childhood or at other times in life. Experiencing the fullness of relationships and connection does not come from parts of us that helped us survive deprivation. We use methods and modalities that can help clients heal and begin to rewire attachment networks in order to feel safe and fulfilled in themselves and their relationships.
Meet Our Team
Lauren Hogsett Steele, LPC (she/her):
Lauren has a breadth of experience working with trauma and attachment issues with adults. As a Licensed Professional Counselor, she specializes in treating trauma and the root causes of symptoms through modalities such as EMDR, somatic therapy, systems work, and the Polyvagal Theory and Safe and Sound Protocol. A PTSD diagnosis is not required to experience the healing effects of therapy. As research has shown, the stress responses from trauma (both relational and shock traumas) can be held in the body, causing symptoms of distress for years after the incident. These symptoms can include but are not limited to anxiety, depression, panic attacks, chronic pain, dissociation, emotional regulation challenges, and relationship issues. Only talking about these concerns can leave many people feeling unresolved and stuck. Lauren uses approaches to help process stress responses that may be trapped in the nervous system and inaccessible by only talking about it but still causing symptoms. She treats the relationship with the client as the cornerstone to effective change—through collaboration with her clients, she will seek to find what will be most effective to restore feelings of safety and connection to oneself and the world.
Lauren has a passion for the ways in which individual, interpersonal, and collective healing intersect. An individual's healing can impact the well-being of their community and vice versa. Through working with her clients, she hopes to help bring change to systems through her client's own growth and healing. She seeks to understand her client's concerns in the context of their identities and lives in order to help them reach their goals for healing and wellness. Lauren has experience with members of the LGBTQIA+ community and the specific concerns pertinent to this group.
Credentials & Education:
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Pennsylvania
Master of Arts in Counseling
EMDRIA certified therapist
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Level 1 trained and certified
Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy certificate from the Embody Lab
Trained and certified Safe and Sound Protocol practitioner
Shelby Singleton, LCSW (she/her)
Shelby is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who received a Master's in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh. She has been working in a private practice setting since 2016 and has experience working with individuals with a wide range of mental health, relationship, and self-esteem concerns. Specializations include trauma and attachment healing with adults and adolescents. Shelby has many years of experience working with children and adults who have experienced adoption, foster care, and attachment breaks from caregivers.
Trauma experiences come in many forms and have varying effects on each individual. Shelby strives to discover each effect and treats the primary cause, allowing the individual to be their most authentic self. Along with EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), Shelby integrates many additional therapy modalities including, but not limited to, IFS (internal family systems), Polyvagal Theory (certified Safe and Sound Protocol provider), and CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy). A session with Shelby might include creative arts, movement, and breath work, among other things, to enhance the modalities mentioned above. She is passionate about advancing her training in various areas of focus and is always looking to grow the list of tools in her toolbox to help her clients reach their goals.
The relationship between therapist and client is one of trust, respect, and collaboration. Shelby believes that all individuals have the power to flourish and is passionate about creating an individualized plan and a safe space that will provide healing for mind, body, and spirit.
Rebecca Golden-Trist, LPC, LMFT (she/her)
Rebecca is a licensed marriage and family therapist and licensed professional counselor. Rebecca has a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy from Seton Hill University and is certified in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). Rebecca is also trained in Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy and Trauma Process Yoga Group.
Rebecca is a dedicated and compassionate therapist who is committed to helping her clients reach their full potential. She is skilled in a variety of therapeutic approaches and is able to tailor her treatment to the individual needs of each client. As a marriage and family therapist, Rebecca has been trained to consider institutional inequality in treatment and acknowledges the role that systemic factors play in mental health. She understands that mental health problems are not just caused by individual factors but also by the social and political systems in which we live. Rebecca is a warm and supportive therapist who creates a safe and comfortable space for her clients to heal. She is committed to making a difference in the lives of her clients.
Rebecca has more than 15 years of experience working in the mental health field. She began her career as an in-home family therapist, working with children and families who were experiencing a variety of challenges. She then moved into outpatient therapy, where she has worked with individuals, couples, and families on a range of issues, including anxiety, depression, trauma, and interpersonal relationships.
In addition to her clinical work, Rebecca is also passionate about supervising. She has been a clinical supervisor since 2014. Rebecca is also an AAMFT-approved supervisor and is able to do all of the required hours for licensure supervision for LMFTs and LPCs.
Before getting her master’s degree, Rebecca volunteered in several countries. Rebecca spent a year in Belfast, Northern Ireland, doing cross-community youth work. She then spent two years in Punta Gorda, Belize, doing HIV/AIDS education for the Peace Corps. Rebecca then volunteered for two years in Tecklenburg, Germany in a L'Arche community, working with mentally handicapped adults.
Brooke E. Lewis, LCSW (she/her)
Brooke is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who received her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh. She has experience working with individuals and groups with a wide range of mental health, relationship, and addiction concerns. Starting her work in 2013 with child and adult survivors of domestic violence, she was inspired to specialize in trauma-focused therapy. While continuing to utilize a trauma and attachment lens, Brooke expanded into working with veterans, individuals struggling with substance use disorders and behavioral addictions, those experiencing grief and loss, and perinatal mental health. Brooke primarily works with individuals aged 14 and up and is committed to meeting clients wherever they may be in their life cycle or development.
Brooke believes that healing from trauma can take many forms and is dedicated to finding a personalized path for each individual and family. As an EMDRIA Certified EMDR Therapist and Approved Consultant, Brooke has extensive training and experience working with trauma, attachment, and dissociation.
Brooke integrates many additional techniques and modalities, including but not limited to Internal Family Systems (Level 1 trained), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (Level 1 trained and certified), Polyvagal Theory (certified Safe and Sound Protocol provider), expressive arts, yoga, movement, and play therapy. Brooke also holds a certificate in Somatic Psychotherapy from Antioch University.
While pursuing her own passion for learning, Brooke discovered a desire to teach and share knowledge with other clinicians. She currently provides individual and group consultation toward EMDRIA certification for clinicians who have completed their EMDRIA-approved basic training. She also provides supportive and educational clinical supervision for social workers working towards licensure. Most recently, Brooke has been expanding into the realm of continuing education and providing basic and advanced topic trainings.
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We are a group of women who are highly trained and specialized with more than 30 years of combined experience in evidence-based practices. We strive to provide the most cutting-edge and innovative care to promote healing in our clients.