Beth Lawler is no longer accepting clients with Montgomery County Counseling Center
About Therapist Beth Lawler:
Hi everyone! I’m Beth Lawler, Licensed Masters Social Worker Therapist at Montgomery County Counseling Center in Rockville, MD. Providing therapeutic support for individuals and families is a calling, one that I feel keenly. Change can be scary and I’m here to help you decide what you want to change and help you navigate the process. I help clients set goals based on their wants and needs, meeting each of you where you are and helping you to move to where you want to be. I help clients improve their lives and relationships through skills acquisition in the areas of mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. I’ll be your steady emotional rock to lean on as you work through the difficult times in your life.
I’m not the expert in your life. You are. Let’s work together to change what is keeping you from your most effective and skillful life. Good therapy can make a difference.
Education and Experience as a Therapist
I got my Bachelor’s degree in Management as part of the Public Safety Leadership Program at Johns Hopkins University. In 2014, I began work on my Masters in Social Work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. During that time, I worked at an acute psychiatric community based inpatient program where I primarily supported homeless individuals. Next, I moved to an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) that focused on teens and young adults with dual diagnosis. I worked with both individuals and families and led multifamily-skills groups. This is also where I began my DBT journey. This ultimately led me to MCCC, a move that has brought me joy and allowed me to continue growing as a therapist.
I have extensive experience with a few populations: adolescents and young people transitioning into adulthood, parents with children who are experiencing difficult transitions, teens and adults with mood and substance use issues and adults transitioning into retirement and beyond. My training and interests have helped me to build a solid base to help others in the areas of trauma, school issues, family stress, mental health disorders, substance abuse, and co-occurring disorders.
While I received extensive training in DBT, I bring techniques from many other interventions including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a family systems approach and more than a passing nod to Carl Rogers’ unconditional positive regard.
Specialties
- Depression and Anxiety
- Perfectionism and High Achiever anxiety
- ADHD and executive function challenges
- Trauma
- General desire for self awareness and growth
- Adolescents and Young Adults
- Substance Abuse
- Life Transitions across the ages
- Self-Esteem
- Borderline Personality Disorder
- Transition to Retirement
Personal Life
My life is a busy one; just the way I like it! I have three sons in different stages of life. They are part of what brings my life a sense of purpose. I have a day job that brings me fulfillment. As I begin to contemplate retirement from that gig, my appreciation for that work (which is so different from therapy) is at an all time high. My mini golden doodle Leo is the BEST dog in the whole world; amazing, incredible and sometimes exasperating!
I am an avid soccer fan who semi-successfully got my boys to support Arsenal. I only recently stopped playing, and am now back to being soccer sideline mom for my youngest son. I’m an enthusiastic traveler, with recent trips to Ireland and Iceland and Australia. I play guitar and piano and am probably the only therapist at this practice that has performed at Wolf Trap.
Blogs and Publications
On Parenting: I’m Doing The Best I Can And I Can Do Better