Laura Scales , LMFT

Laura Scales is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) based in Colorado who brings a rich blend of life experience and clinical training to her practice. Before entering mental health, she worked in roles that supported and empowered others - from caring for people with chronic illness and severe disabilities as a home health aide to teaching rock climbing, ice climbing, sea kayaking, and swimming for diverse clients. She also supported quality of life for residents in a senior living community. Those earlier careers inform her empathy and practical approach to helping people navigate change and loss.

Her background as a high altitude mountaineer, including summiting Mt. Aconcagua at 22,837 feet, shaped her capacity for presence and resilience. Those experiences taught her to focus on the present moment and to find steadiness in challenging circumstances. In graduate school at Argosy University in Denver she earned a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and completed a practicum at West Springs Psychiatric Hospital. She went on to work in a community mental health outpatient clinic, serving as an intake clinician and providing individual and group therapy across the lifespan.

In private practice she works with individuals, couples, and families on relationship concerns, grief, anger, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, addictions, trauma and abuse, parenting, career issues, bipolar disorder, and LGBT-related concerns. She uses evidence-based methods such as Internal Family Systems Therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, solution-focused techniques, and strength-based practices tailored to each person’s needs. Laura emphasizes client empowerment, viewing each person as the expert on their life and collaborating to build healthier relationships and greater personal well-being.

Evidence-Based Approaches and Online Therapy Options

Laura integrates Internal Family Systems (IFS) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) into online work. IFS helps people explore the different parts of themselves and understand how those parts influence emotions and behavior - it is often useful for trauma, internal conflict, and relationship patterns. CBT focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and developing practical strategies to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress.

She also draws on elements of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) when clients need skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. These approaches are taught in clear, accessible ways so clients can practice new skills between sessions. Finding the right therapeutic approach is part of the collaborative process - the therapist works with each person to determine which methods best match their goals, needs, and preferences, and adjusts the plan over time.

Online therapy through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging offers flexibility for busy schedules and varied lifestyles. It allows people to access licensed professionals from home, at work, or while traveling within supported regions, and to choose the communication format that fits their comfort level and day-to-day routine.