Meet Dr. Lara Barbir
Healing the past to nurture the future — because creating emotionally secure future generations starts from within.
I’m so grateful you’re practicing self-compassion by exploring therapy and reparenting work. One of the most important predictors of successful outcomes in therapy is the strength of the relationship between you and your therapist. As you explore your options, trust the yes feelings that come from your intuition — they’re guiding you toward the right fit.
Most of the clients I work with experience depression, trauma, anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain, or the emotional impact of major life stressors — often following relational or professional challenges. My goal is to create a space that helps you reconnect to your inherent wisdom and resilience.
My Approach
I strive to embody an authentic, compassionate, and flexible style that’s both grounded in science and deeply connected to you as a person. Having my own lived experience with depression and trauma, I understand the pain and courage that healing requires.
My approach is not about “fixing” you, but helping you align with your most empowered and authentic self. In our sessions, I aim to create a space where you feel deeply seen and understood — so you can keep leaning into your growth with gentleness and self-trust.
“Be brave, be wild, and stay forever hungry for love, art, knowledge, and adventure.”
Outside of my role as a psychologist, I find meaning in connection and adventure — whether that’s hiking, traveling, engaging in the arts, learning something new, or simply being present with my loved ones. I believe these experiences keep us grounded in what makes us human: curiosity, creativity, and connection.
Why I Created the Reparenting Course
When I think about the work I do today — helping others feel safe, whole, and connected — I often think of her: the little girl in this photo.
Curious, tender, a bit mischievous, and full of questions, she also carried unspoken pain that no one around her quite knew how to name.
Like many of us, I learned early on to stay strong and keep moving forward, even when my inner world felt anything but steady — evidenced by the onset of an autoimmune disease at the age of 7. Years later, through my own therapy, EMDR, and deep self-work becoming aware of and working through deeply ingrained defense mechanisms like intellectualization, repression, dissociation and numbing, I began to realize that healing isn’t about becoming someone new — it’s about returning to the parts of us that needed love the most.
The Reparenting Course was born out of this realization. It’s my way of helping new and aspiring parents heal their own childhood wounds so they can show up with more compassion, presence, and security — for themselves first and foremost and therefore for the next generation.
Because the truth is: we don’t just heal for ourselves. We heal to change what love looks and feels like for everyone who comes after us. And my theory is that if we can learn to hold an unconditionally loving and secure space for the child that lives on within ourselves, that is the foundation for parenting our future generations.
Credentials & Training
I am a licensed clinical psychologist in California (PSY 31109) and have been providing psychotherapy to adults since 2013 across diverse settings — including VA medical centers, integrated care clinics, community mental health, and university counseling centers. I also hold a faculty appointment with The Chicago School College of Professional Psychology, where I teach and supervise doctoral students within the Clinical Psychology PsyD program. Lastly, I am also a supervisor and in in the process of becoming a trainer with the IPT Institute International.
My theoretical orientation is integrative, with roots in cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, and third-wave approaches. I have received extensive training in science-backed modalities for trauma, depression, perinatal mental health, insomnia, and chronic pain. While I completed a similar credential within the VA medical system, I am in the process of the requirements to complete my Certification in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C) with Postpartum Support International.
Evidence-Based Certifications
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Prolonged Exposure for Primary Care (PE-PC)
Written Exposure Therapy (WET)
Motivational Interviewing (MI)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain (CBT-CP)
Additional Training
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
(Certification typically involves 2–6 days of didactic training plus up to 12 months of case consultation specific to that modality.)
Education
APA-Accredited Postdoctoral Fellowship in Psychosomatic and Behavioral Medicine
VA San Diego Healthcare System/University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
APA-Accredited Pre-Doctoral Internship
VA Long Beach Healthcare System, Long Beach, California
Doctor of Psychology, Counseling Psychology
Radford University, Radford, Virginia
Dissertation: Posttraumatic Growth in Combat Veterans: The Roles of Mindfulness and Experiential Avoidance
Master of Science, Rehabilitation Counseling
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
Emphases: psychosocial adaptation to chronic illness and disability
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology and Sociology
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Senior Project: Collaborative Information Exchange Using Elicit-Provide-Elicit to Reduce Risky Drinking Among College Students
Book Feature: EMDR for Depression
About the Book
EMDR for Depression: Overcome the Trauma That Drives Your Symptoms
(Coming March 2026)
So much of what we call “depression” isn’t a defect or weakness — it’s the body’s way of holding
unhealed pain. In this book, I guide readers through how trauma shapes emotional patterns,
relationships, and even our capacity for joy — and how healing begins when we stop fighting
our pain and start listening to it.
Drawing on years of clinical experience, my own healing journey, and evidence-based EMDR techniques,
this book offers a compassionate framework for transforming the wounds that keep us stuck.
It’s written for anyone who has ever asked: “Why do I still feel this way, even after everything I’ve tried?”
What You’ll Discover
How trauma disguises itself as depression — and why traditional treatments often miss the root.
How EMDR helps the brain reprocess emotional memories so healing becomes possible.
Practical tools for self-regulation, compassion, and reparenting your inner child.
Gentle reflections and exercises designed to help you reconnect with your sense of hope and worthiness.
Whether you’re a therapist, a parent, or someone on your own healing path, EMDR for Depression invites you to approach yourself with understanding, not judgment — and to reclaim the parts of you that have been waiting to be seen.
📘 Preorder Available Now, Delivered March 2026
(Published by New Harbinger Publications)
