Lauren Kellar Naldo, M.A.

Lauren Naldo is a staff counselor and Assistant Director of Counseling and Mental Performance (Sport Psychology) embedded in the VT Athletics Department.  She provides individual therapy, works with teams to enhance culture & performance, and facilitates psychoeducational programs for VT student-athletes.  Lauren has over 15 years of experience as a mental health clinician.  She's called VT, "home," for the past 10 years.  During this time, she joined the Sport Psychology staff in their efforts to decrease stigma around mental health in athletics and has specialized in treatment approaches that address the unique needs of student-athletes.  

Lauren is trained and experienced in the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders, trauma, dating violence, sexual assault, identity concerns, grief & loss, and relationship issues.  Her scope of practice extends to include concerns that tend to present within the athlete population, such as disordered eating, body image, performance anxiety, and mind-body or nervous system dysregulation.

Operating from a strengths-based perspective, Lauren utilizes moments of challenge, growth, and adversity abundant in sport to identify characteristics, values, and resilience within the athlete that will serve them in therapy, as they address struggles both on and off the field.  Her therapeutic approach is integrative, though she relies on a dynamic and interpersonal model.  Rooted in the understanding that symptoms present with purpose, Lauren seeks to help her client's develop insight and compassion and discourages pathologizing the human experience.  Mindfulness practice and Biofeedback (HRV training) are tools Lauren utilizes to enhance treatment and target specific concerns.

Lauren holds an M.A. in Counseling from Marymount University in Arlington, Va., and is a Licensed Professional Counselor.