Laura S. Brown is a clinical and forensic psychologist in independent practice in Seattle, Washington. A writer and speaker on feminist therapy theory and practice, she offers workshops and trainings to professionals and the public on such topics as trauma treatment, cultural competence, psychological assessment, and ethics. She is also the founder and Director of the Fremont Community Therapy Project, a low-fee psychotherapy training clinic in Seattle.

Upcoming talks and workshops

Laura talks about Your Turn for Care on The Mary Waldon Show

A discussion of Your Turn for Care with internet radio host Mary Waldon. In this frank conversation, I talk about the concept of the contracts between children and the adults who raise them, and the pain and challenges that arise for people who had those contracts for care broken by their elders. I discuss some of the factors that arise in making decisions about whether and how to engage with abusive elders in some aspect of the caregiver role. Details »

Now available for purchase – Your turn for care: Surviving the aging and death of the adults who harmed you

Your turn for care: Surviving the aging and death of the adults who harmed youI'm very pleased to announce that Your turn for care: Surviving the aging and death of the adults who harmed you is now available for purchase. You can still read or listen to the first chapter for free. If you've done that and liked what you learned, you can now buy the entire book. I'll have an audio version of the complete text available soon; for now, you can get Your Turn as a book or e-book. Links to the free sample chapter and to all of the various purchasing options are available here on my website.

If you were abused or maltreated in any way by the adults who raised you, their aging and dying present special challenges for you. This short and accessible book condenses the wisdom of my almost forty years as a psychotherapist with adult survivors as well as my experiences working with people who have lived through this passage in life. Your turn for care contains concrete and helpful suggestions for self-care and decision-making about your participation in family care-giving as well as a guide to grieving the abusive elder. The book also contains an extensive list of print and web resources.

I encourage you to share the news of this book with anyone who you think might benefit; survivors of childhood maltreatment, therapists, clergy, trust and estate attorneys, and family and friends of survivors. I'm open to invitations for interviews and readings. As always, I'm very interested in your feedback about what I've written.

In other news for those of you are not not subscribed to my RSS feed, I've published several book chapters and journal articles on some very personal aspects of my work. One, called On not quitting my day job, is about my own struggles through burn-out and despair to reconnect with my joy in my work. A second, Compassion amidst oppression, is a chapter addressing the interesting complexities of working with a person who represents aspects of one's own experiences of unfairness. Finally, I have a journal article just out, Feminist therapy as a path to friendship with women, that ties together personal and professional journeys to close and enduring relationships with women in my life.

I also have three upcoming workshops on the topic of Cultural competence in trauma treatment, two in New York City on March 1 and 2, and one in Oakland California on April 19th. You can find information about my writings and upcoming appearances here on my site.

If you'd like to get up to-the-minute information about new publications and upcoming appearances delivered directly to your computer, smartphone, or tablet you can do so by subscribing to my RSS feed if you haven't already. Thanks so much for your interest in my work.