Lauren Penner Therapy, PLLC

09/09/2026

As a grief, trauma, and OCD therapist, I find myself in conversations about death a lot. I hear the hardest regrets after someone has died, the biggest fears people have about their own death, and what actually makes a difference in how grief unfolds.

Looking directly at loss has given me real perspective on what matters in relationships, and what makes grief more traumatic. A lot of it comes down to having the hard conversations before you need to.

Save this for the one you’ve been putting off.

08/31/2026

Back in office today after a lovely time in CA for the EMDR International Association conference plus enjoying some vacation time with loved ones.

Honored to meet Paula P. Merucci, LLC and I am taking back so much clinical wisdom from all the incredible presenters this year.

If you attended this year, what was your favorite session?

08/31/2026

08/29/2026

💔💔💔

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” - Dolly Parton

06/19/2026

Not everyone’s relationship to this day is easy.

If yours is complicated by loss, by distance, by what was missing, your grief is still allowed to take up space today.

Save this if you need it this weekend.

06/18/2026

Sibling trauma doesn’t get talked about enough.

In my work, I’ve seen how deeply people can be impacted by a sibling. Sexual abuse. Mental illness. Addiction. The harm can be just as traumatic as it would have been coming from a parent.

And to be clear, siblings don’t exist in a vacuum. The family system around them shaped some of what they were struggling with too. But that doesn’t make the harm to you any less real.

Sibling trauma is valid.

06/05/2026

Conditional love is not always what is said out loud.

Conditions can be implicit or explicit that convey what lines not to cross to avoid jeopardizing attachment with someone important for your survival.

Surviving might look like contorting yourself to fit the box.

Some q***r people, especially in religious spaces, stay inside that box and call it “salvation” but really they are describing protective strategies to stay safe in an unsafe world.

Suppression can parade as being good, being faithful, or godly.

The list of conditions for approval was never yours but it makes sense it felt so necessary to cling to it.

06/03/2026

Self-abandonment is the systemic and chronic dismissal of your own needs, values, beliefs, emotions, and interests to preserve safety or a vital connection.

Abandoning yourself was protective and necessary.

I’m sorry you had to do that.

May you have the bandwidth, the safety, and the resources to slowly peel back the layers of self-abandonment and unbecome who you “should” be.

➕Follow along for LGBTQIA+ trauma healing

06/01/2026

Pride matters because it’s still illegal in 65 countries to be who you are.

Pride matters because it’s a celebration of what it cost to be this proud. 🌈

***rmentalhealth