Lawrence Matheny , LPC, LMFT

Lawrence Matheny is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) practicing in Virginia. As an LPC he is trained to provide mental health counseling to individuals, and as an LMFT he is trained to work with couples and families to address relational concerns. He has devoted more than three decades to work in psychiatric hospitals and community-based mental health and substance abuse settings, bringing extensive experience supporting people through complex emotional and behavioral challenges.

His professional background is complemented by more than 40 years in pastoral ministry, including 16 years as an ordained minister, and he holds master’s degrees in Counseling and in Pastoral Ministry. Over the course of his career he has provided counseling to individuals, couples, and families dealing with issues such as stress, anxiety, addictions, relationship and family concerns, trauma and abuse, grief, parenting strains, self-esteem difficulties, bipolar disorder, and depression. He has also focused on aging and geriatric issues, autism and Asperger syndrome, caregiver stress, codependency, disaster-related coping, family-of-origin work, mood disorders, and post-traumatic stress.

He has worked with people from a wide range of backgrounds and beliefs, including clients of different faiths and those without faith, LGBTQIA individuals, children, teens, adults, parents, grandparents, and people in hospice and their families. He approaches counseling from the perspective that each person is the expert in their own life and works to help clients identify and use their existing strengths to move toward goals. When faith traditions are important to a client, he is comfortable integrating those resources into treatment as appropriate. His practice emphasizes collaborative, strength-based work to help clients make meaningful changes over time.