Laura Gauer Bermudez, LCSW, PhD is a psychotherapist, social scientist, and advisor based in New York. Through therapy and coaching, she assists individuals through life transitions, grief, anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship conflicts, and planning for a more resilient and fulfilling journey ahead. As a clinician, Laura draws upon her experience as a social scientist studying youth and emergent adulthood globally, including in conflict-affected settings.  As an advisor, she provides guidance on global mental health, leaning on her experience with international non-profits, UN agencies, and governments providing foreign aid.  

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Laura’s background includes experience in human rights and humanitarian assistance - supporting interventions for refugees fleeing war, children in exploitative labor conditions, and victims of gender-based violence.  As an advisor, she guides implementers and funders on programs to improve mental health and well-being. As a clinician, her therapeutic process is both trauma-informed and globally-oriented, drawing upon the similarities that bind the human experience across cultures and communities – a desire for meaning, mastery, purpose, belonging, and hope.  

 

She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, a Master’s Degree in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University, and a PhD in Social Work from Columbia University.  She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New York State and has certifications in Forced Migration, Grief Counseling, and Clinical Care for Individuals on the Autism Spectrum.