About Me
I'm Lauren Dayan Hunter, an existential psychotherapist and gerontologist in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. I work with adults dealing with grief, aging, retirement, identity changes, anxiety, and the questions that tend to surface when life doesn't look the way we expected it to.
I’m less interested in helping you become a better version of yourself than in helping you understand the version of yourself who is sitting in front of me. Whether you’re mourning a loss, reckoning with the passage of time, or confronting questions long set aside, you are welcome here.
My Qualifications
I earned a BA in Psychology from the University of Mississippi, an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Loyola University New Orleans, and a PhD in Aging Studies from Tulane University. I’ve been practicing as a licensed professional counselor (LPC) since 2019, with a particular focus on aging, grief, existential anxiety, and life transitions. My training has taken me from clinical mental health counseling to aging studies, and those two areas continue to shape how I work. I’m particularly interested in what happens to our sense of identity, purpose, relationships, and mortality as we move through adulthood.
In addition to my private practice, I serve as an adjunct professor at Loyola University New Orleans, teaching the Study of Death and Dying in the MS in Counseling program. I genuinely like this work. I like sitting with people when things have gotten hard and watching them come out on the other side in better shape than before.
About You (yes, YOU)
Just because it feels like things around you are falling apart doesn’t mean that you are. Sometimes life changes, and the way you understood yourself or the world around you no longer quite fits. A loss, a transition, a relationship, an illness, aging, or simply realizing that you can’t keep living the way you have been can shake things up.
There are growing pains in being human. When things change, part of the work is figuring out what needs to change with them. What do you want to keep? What no longer fits? What have you outgrown? And what might you want to build differently?
That process takes curiosity, creativity, and a willingness to try. We are shaped by what happens to us, but we are also continually making and remaking ourselves in response to it.
Therapy can be a place to slow down, get curious, and figure out what you want to carry forward.
What is the First Session Like?
Therapy can feel intimidating—especially if it’s your first time, or your first time opening up to someone in this way, or saying something out loud that you’ve never said before.
The first session is a conversation. I’ll want to hear what brought you in, what’s been happening lately, and what you hope might be different. I’ll also ask questions and start getting a sense of the patterns that may be part of what you’re experiencing.
By the end, you’ll have a better idea of what working together might look like and whether I’m the right therapist for you. And if I’m not, that’s okay, too. I want you to leave with something useful—a little more clarity about yourself, what you want, or where you’d like to go from here.
Rates
My fee is $200 per session (50 minutes). I accept Medicare and most Medicare Advantage plans. Once you provide your insurance information, my billing specialist will verify your coverage and confirm eligibility before your first session. Please visit my Psychology Today profile for more information.