June's Feature Practitioner: Lauren Aiken| Sarah Healy Baby Sleep Expert

I am lucky enough to be in a robust community of compassionate and competent practitioners who are dedicated to supporting parents in the prenatal to postpartum stages of life.

Every month I will be featuring a practitioner and this month features one of my very favorite colleagues --a therapist for parents --who is as grounded as she is skilled.

Meet Lauren Aiken- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.

Simply put, Lauren is AMAZING~ GROUNDED ~ATTUNED~ REAL~ and so skilled.

I have partnered with her professionally for years and years and each time she works with a family, they feel seen, supported and equipped with tools.

Lauren is a licensed marriage and family therapist providing virtual therapy to women and caregivers navigating fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, and early parenting, as well as other major life transitions.

She describes her work in this way: "My work focuses on anxiety, depression, grief and loss, identity shifts, and relational strain during periods of prolonged stress or change.

I offer a steady, relational, and a clinically grounded approach that prioritizes nervous system regulation, emotional integration, and meaning making.

My style is reflective, attuned, and especially supportive for people who are capable on the outside but internally stretched thin."

 

I had a chance to interview Lauren and I found her responses to be so insightful and beautiful.

Please read on:

What got you into this field?

I was drawn to this field through early work supporting women, parents, and families during periods of vulnerability and transition.

Over time, I became especially interested in how identity shifts, loss, and relational strain show up during fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, and early parenting.

This work has felt like a natural integration of my clinical training, perinatal experience, and long standing interest in how people carry responsibility while trying to remain connected to themselves and others.

What /Who inspires your work?

My work is inspired by the people I sit with especially women and caregivers navigating prolonged uncertainty, responsibility, and identity shifts.

I’m continually shaped by how difficult and uncertain life can feel, and by the fear that often accompanies periods of transition, even when things look stable from the outside. I’m also guided by the quiet resilience people draw on to keep going, adapt, and make meaning under pressure.

That lived complexity informs how I listen and how I work.

What do you love about what you do?

I love the quiet, relational nature of this work.

There’s something meaningful about offering steadiness during periods of uncertainty and helping people feel less alone as they navigate complex transitions.

I’m continually moved by what becomes possible when people feel safe enough to reflect, integrate, and change at their own pace, and by the resilience people carry even when they don’t yet recognize it themselves.

What is something that is unique about you?

I’ve spent much of my career working at the intersection of mental health, perinatal care, and early parenting.

Prior to focusing exclusively on therapy, I worked as a lactation consultant and in infant sleep support, spending countless hours alongside families navigating exhaustion, uncertainty, and high responsibility. That experience continues to inform my clinical work with depth and practical attunement.

What do you want parents to know more than anything?

I want parents to know that difficulty is not a personal shortcoming.

Parenting, particularly in early or uncertain seasons, stretches people in ways that are rarely visible.

Feeling unsure or needing support doesn’t signal failure it reflects the weight and meaning of what’s being held, and is deeply human.