L A V E L D A
N A Y L O R
LMFT-S/COACH
She/Her/Hers
L A V E L D A
N A Y L O R
LMFT-S/COACH
She/Her/Hers
Online Psychotherapy Services
© Begin Anywhere LLC
ti
TEXAS LICENSED THERAPIST
GLOBAL LIFE COACH
Affirming Care Provider
S K I L L S
areas of expertise
Relationship Help
conflict
infidelity
dating fatigue
boundaries
divorce/ breakup
codependency
trust issues
trauma bonding
polycule issues
attachment style
relationship trauma
abandonment fears
communication
Adult Giftedness
chronic cynicism
perfectionism
under-achievement
low belonging
chronic boredom
empathic overwhelm
high sensitivity (HSP)
over-excitability
moral outrage
imposter syndrome
existential despair
hyperfixations
neurodiversity
Mood Issues
depression
anxiety
phobias
bipolar 1
borderline pd
explosiveness
impulsivity
panic attacks
intrusive thoughts
mood swings
dysthymia
adjustment disorder
CPTSD/PTSD
LGTBQ+ Support
queer affirming
gender identity
transition plan
coming out
partner conflict
family rejection
stigmatization
queer identity
religious trauma
partner therapy
social trauma
political trauma
kink affirming
Global Coaching
personal growth
work-life balance
decision making
coparenting
communication
career goals
accountibility
networking goals
nomad lifestyle
acculturation
making change
assertiveness
immigrant issues
C O N T A C T
Lavelda Naylor MA LMFT-S
OWNER AND OPPERATOR
BEGIN ANYWHERE LLC
lavelda.naylor@gmail.com
(email always best)
(210) 446-9552 (text or call)
MAILING ADDRESS
Begin Anywhere LLC
(Registered Agent)
5900 Balcones Drive, STE 13482
Austin, TX 78731
OR
Begin Anywhere LLC
2186 Jackson Keller Rd, Ste 2277
San Antonio*, TX 78213
P O R T A L
Ready to begin?
To onboard, enter the client portal of Begin Anywhere (my private practice) and create a profile. You will fill out all forms online, which are designed to address most client questions and concerns. Once registered in the client portal, you can schedule sessions, send chats, access your forms, create a journal, manage billing, and work towards your therapy goals all online. This is also where all video and chat sessions will be held ...unless we arrange to meet on PT Sessions or have a phone call due to accessibility/technology issues.
*HIPPA compliant platforms are required for sessions.
S E R V I C E S
{ Sessions are 55 minutes each & either phone call, video call, or text based }
Now Accepting Clients for Virtual Sessions
ONLINE THERAPY
I am trained and licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist Supervisor in Texas ( LMFT-S), and as such, I focus on treating mental health issues from a systemic lens using clinical tools. Insurance coverage is generally limited to licensed professionals, so if you want to use insurance, this is the best option for you. However, therapy sessions must occur at a Texas address, which will be confirmed at the onset of each session.
This is because licenses are issued and managed by state boards, here is the information for my licensing board should you ever need it:
Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC)
Marriage and Family Therapists Board of Examiners
333 Guadalupe St.,
Ste. 3-900
Austin, Texas 78701
Main Line (512) 305-7700
Complaints 24-hour,
(800) 821-3205
ONLINE COACHING
Coaching is an unlicensed alternative to traditional therapy and focuses less on mental health issues and more on wellness goals. As a coach , I will use a wider array of approaches to help you maintian your mental wellness or achieve some new life goals. There is no governing body and no jurisdictional limit, thus I offer this option to those who travel often, have already achieved mental health but want continued support, or are simply tired of limiting clinical approaches to ongoing life stressors.
I manage all files and platforms for coaching the same as therapy though, so you can move between the two modes with relative ease, dependant upon your current needs.
Here is link that further explains the differences between life coaching and therapy.
T H E O R Y
I work with Individuals, Couples and Partners, and occassionaly with groups or families.
I have an educational background in philosophy and psychology, have worked in neuroscience research and mental health, but now practice applied systems theory and empowerment coaching in private practice. Each of these lenses helps me identify similarities across clients, the MACRO stuff, but also see what is unique to each client, the MICRO stuff, and both of kinds of information are critical to understanding a person and their system in any kind of meaningful way.
Systems Theory
Systems theory aknowledges that your wellness is dependent on the larger context you exist in (family, work, culture, etc). These structures can be stressful so we form patterns of self protection and generally speaking, they work ...until they dont.
But we are not always aware of a pattern that is no longer working, mostly because we like to keep things the same (homeostasis). So we resist changing our patterns even if they are not serving us well anymore, then we get stuck and fall into chaos--which tells us we need to change, and this is when we will finally seek help. If this sounds familiar, reach out to get unstuck, try some new approaches, and regain your forward movement.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness techniques increases internal resources, improves self awareness, and strengthens attentional control. From a cognitive perspective, mindfulness is quite simply slowing down our mind, directing our attention to the present moment, and observing our brain activity with a nonjudgmental perspective.
Sounds simple right? Give it a try right now. Sit quitely, breath deeply and ask yourself "what am I thinking? what is my body doing? what am I feeling right now? what was I experiencing before I started this activity? If you found it difficult to do this, therapy can help you reach your goals of having more control over your mind and body reactions. Raach out new to get support for slowing down your busy brain.
Experientialism
It is hard to effect change in our behaviors without practice, practice, practice, so as we explore the inner and outer workings of experience in conversation and contemplation, we also must spend our time together actually DOING things differently. Because I use tools and techniques in session meant to provoke an immediate change in your process, you will then be able to practice between sessions what you already did in session.
This is called 'consolidating knowledge', and it speeds up the learning curve a great deal. Consolidation is so helpful because your brain has established a new neural pathway in session that can be accessed more easily between sessions, so when you practice it is more like remembering than learning. This is called 'consolidating knowledge', and it speeds up the learning curve a great deal. I cant wait to show you what I mean!
Emotion Regulation
In general, humans struggle with emotions or feelings, which stems from 2 main issues: 1) an oversensitive defense system developed to mask vulnerability, which we often see as a weakness and 2) as we grow into adulthood, we develop ever more complex feelings that seem to frighten or overwhelm us , cutting off access to reasonable parts of the brain (i.e, the amygdala hyjack) we need to understand our feelings.
Due to increased need for a structured method, I have developed a 5-step tool that when practiced regularly, helps clients become much more emotionally intelligent and better regulated in mood (because unprocessed feelings can build up into poor mood). What's more, clients also report having more empathy for those around them because they have more 'bandwidth' for feelings. If you need better control over your mental space, this tool might be a good fit for you so reach out to me to give it a try.
Attachment Theory
When we feel safe and understood by loved ones, we have a secure attachment schema that helps us feel self-confident, trusting, and hopeful about connecting out in the world. Secure attachment also provides us with an ability to understand conflict, respond to intimacy opportunities, and navigate the ups and downs of relationships with relative ease.
Conversly, attachment insecurity can make it hard to regulate emotional experiences and create patterns of codependency that stalls our social and emotional development. This means we rely too much on the behaviors of others to process feelings, which will show up as insatiable emotional needs and dysfunctional relationship patterns in adulthood.
It turns out that attachment style is not fixed, so even if we manage to enter adulthood with that secure attachment style, traumatic and difficult experiences can make us insecure and codependent, or vice versa. But attachment plasticity also means we can repair our attachment schemas when they are of the insecure type! So if you struggle to regulate your emotions and/or have difficulty maintaining stable relationships in adulthood, attachment based therapy can help you repair and get your emotional needs met.
Developmental Model of Intimacy
Me, You, and We
Building on attachment theory, the Developmental Model of Intimacy or DMI sees partner struggles as a natural symptom of our need to grow psychologically through relationships, and "falling in love" entails finding partners we think will provoke continued growth in the self. But when the "shared psychosis state" or New Relationship Energy (NRE) abates, we often begin to struggle with the differences we once found so tantelizing. And we discover even more differences along the way as we are unable to keep hiding the parts of ourselves we don't like as a relationship matures. Sound familiar?
As we struggle to accept each other's differences, we fall into internal dilemmas that are often negatively projected onto the relationship. Partners can then get stuck in a cycle of defenses, trying to control, avoid, or blame each other for the stress in the relationship. Over time, there will be many attempts to reconnect but unless differentiation can emerge for each partner, and differences can be accepted, even applauded again, partners will fall into chaos and get stuck in a conflict cycle. What is needed is better self regulation, healthy boundaries, secure attachment, accepting differences, and exploring each other's internal lives with more empathy and less fixing. Partners need to create Me, You, and We ways of growing intimacy that allows for interdependence and independent functioning.
– Dr. Harry Aponte
- T E S T I M O N I E S
Real clients and collegues talking about their therapy experience with me.
"My work with LaVelda is the single best thing I do for myself (and for my relationships). Our work together is effort-full, productive, and thanks to it, I know now that growth is wonderfully possible. She is both inspired and inspiring & she's also compassionate and warm. I've seen her for four years now and am still in awe regularly at how fantastic she is at her work. I didn't know therapy could be like that! I'm beyond glad I found her & I recommend her every chance I get." M.P.
"I recommend LaVelda as much as possible! I have been seeing her for about 3 years now and it has been one of the best decisions of my life. From the very first visit I felt comfortable. LaVelda has a way of using her sense of humor and her empathy to make walls come down and make you feel at ease. She has helped me find useful tools and helped me set healthy boundaries for anything from my first year teaching to my first real heartbreak. I have discovered the importance of self-care! A.M.
"I found Lavelda Naylor by pure accident and without knowing who I was, she was able to work with me on the fee. She is firmly dedicated to the welfare of her clients; when my situation was dire, she went out of her way to assist me and never charged an additional dime for the extra help. I can't rate her 5 stars because that is too few. " H.G.
Submit a testimonial!
{submitting is viewed as permission to post testimonial with initials}
“Lavelda is a great therapist who is mindful and fearless. She tackles difficult cases and seeks further growth from both her clients and herself.“ Betsabe Rubio, LPC-S
“I appreciate Lavelda's existential approach toward her clients and how it has been helpful to them as her clients work on increasing their sense of personal responsibility and gain new abilities to change their lives for the better.“ Ryan W. Gano MA, LMFT
S O C I A L S
R E C O M M E N D ED
media I like...
