January 21, 2025

Dear Clients, 

Due to medical reasons, I will be closing my psychotherapy practice on March 31, 2025. I will be undergoing spinal fusion surgery later this year, and after careful consideration I’ve decided it’s best to close my practice before I have the surgery. 

As your therapist, my primary concern is providing you with the highest quality care and support. I will hopefully be able to resume working after I recover from the operation, but I can’t say when or to what capacity. Closing my practice on March 31st allows us to plan how we finish our work together over the next 10 weeks. During this time, I can support you in transitioning to another therapist if you’d like to continue therapy long-term. 

I understand you may want to know more about the surgery and recovery. I am happy to share more and answer any questions you may have in our remaining sessions. My code of ethics prohibits me from contacting you after we officially terminate our therapeutic relationship. However, I plan to post updates about the surgery on the blog tab of my website (reneegaubert.com/blog), which is available to the public. You will always be welcome to visit that site, and can subscribe to receive email notifications when I publish a new post. 

If I decide to re-open my practice in the future, I will announce it in a blog post and you will have the option of re-establishing care with me through my website.

I will make space to process this news together in our next session, and you are welcome to reach out between sessions as well.

I love being your therapist, and I look forward to our next 10 weeks together. 

Sincerely,

Renée 

Renée Gaubert, LCSW

renee.gaubert.lcsw@gmail.com

504-315-5663

As someone who listens and reflects for a living, sometimes I find it hard off-the-clock to find my own voice. Reading and writing poetry has been a way for me to self-soothe since I was 10 years old. Today, I am grieving and taking time to self-soothe. I am re-reading some of my favorite poems that speak the words I need to hear and echo those I need to say. I share this poem here in hopes it may do the same for you.

Song of Myself, 48

I have said that the soul is not more than the body,
And I have said that the body is not more than the soul,
And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one’s self is,
And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud,
And I or you pocketless of a dime may purchase the pick of the earth,
And to glance with an eye or show a bean in its pod confounds the learning of all times,
And there is no trade or employment but the young man following it may become a hero,
And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the wheel’d universe,
And I say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.
And I say to mankind, Be not curious about God,
For I who am curious about each am not curious about God,
(No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about God and about death.)
I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least,
Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.
Why should I wish to see God better than this day?
I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then,
In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass,
I find letters from God dropt in the street, and every one is sign’d by God’s name,
And I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe’er I go,
Others will punctually come for ever and ever.

Walt Whitman

From Leaves of Grass (1891-1892). This poem is in the public domain.

The Prom

March 8 – 24, 2024

Rivertown Theaters – Kenner, LA

Buy Tickets

A vibrant and energetic musical comedy. When four Broadway stars hear that trouble is brewing around a small-town prom, they know that it’s time to put a spotlight on the issue…and themselves.

A heartwarming and uplifting Broadway musical that combines catchy tunes, dazzling choreography, and a message of acceptance and inclusivity. The show follows a group of self-absorbed Broadway stars who, in their quest for positive publicity, decide to champion a small-town high school student who is forbidden to attend prom with her girlfriend. As they embark on their mission, the characters experience personal growth, confront their own biases, and learn the true meaning of empathy and friendship. With its infectious music, clever humor, and poignant themes, “The Prom” serves as a powerful reminder of the transformative power of love, compassion, and standing up for what is right.

Mainstage, Run time: ~2 hrs, Rated: PG-13

Directed by Kelly Fouchi

The Lanier Law Firm has put together a guide about the connection between the trucking industry and human trafficking. We have included information about why human trafficking is prevalent in trucking, how are people victimized, and the signs all of us can look out for. Check it out:

Trucking & Human Trafficking – lanierlawfirm.com/trucking-and-human-trafficking/

Practicing gratitude regularly has been shown to increase positive emotions and improve well-being. “Three good things” is a classic gratitude exercise in which participants write down three good things from their day, whether big or small. My favorite Daily Journal Template incorporates this exercise both morning and evening, and only takes 5 minutes. Try it for a week and see what you notice!

Date:

• Morning –

I am grateful for:

What would make today great (things within your control):

Affirmations/Intentions/Mantras for today:

• Evening –

Three positive things that happened today:

How I could have made today even better/What I will try tomorrow:

© Renee Gaubert, LCSW 2024

In addition to the endorphin-boosting cameos my dogs make, there are many advantages to teletherapy. Two recent studies (in 2019 and in 2021) found that in most cases, therapy via phone and video is just as effective as in-person therapy for treating depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Teletherapy also offers some benefits that in-person therapy does not, including:

• Flexibility. You can attend therapy wherever is convenient for you, so long as it is private and you can give your undivided attention.
• Ease of Access. You can attend telehealth sessions without worrying about traveling, meaning you can schedule less time per session and can attend therapy during inclement weather or illness.
• Lower cost. You don’t have the added costs of transportation, time off work, and childcare that you might for in-person appointments. You are more likely to be able to keep scheduled appointments and not be charged cancellation/no-show fees.
• Consistency. Telehealth makes it easier for both clients and therapists to balance their work and personal lives. This allows therapists to see clients more efficiently so you can receive care more consistently.
• Efficiency. Paperwork, therapeutic homework, and record transfers can be done electronically and take up less face-to-face time. This can help you stay on track and accomplish your goals in fewer sessions.
• Comfort. Being in a familiar environment can help you feel more comfortable opening up about your issues. You don’t have to worry about being seen entering or exiting your therapist’s office, and you can come as you are- with your sweats on, your pet by your side, and a warm cup of tea in hand!

Ready to Get Started?

To get a feel for the platform I use for video sessions, select “Client Portal” from the menu at the top of the page. If you’re interested in live chat sessions, visit betterhelp.com/renee-gaubert. I can explain how to log in and use any features on the telehealth platforms. If telehealth is not a good fit for you, I will recommend a different option and provide appropriate referrals.

I am a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and New Orleans has always been my home. I witnessed the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as a college student, which moved me forward on a path to understanding the intersection of collective trauma and personal trauma. As I earned my BA from Loyola University in sociology with minors in women’s studies and Spanish, I engaged in feminist activism to raise awareness of sexual violence and was a featured speaker at Take Back the Night. After earning my MSW from Tulane University, I became a domestic violence victim advocate and counselor for the Orleans Parish DA’s Office. I later worked as a community-based mental health professional at Children’s Bureau before receiving my LCSW from the Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners and entering private practice. My entire professional background is in trauma work, specializing in working with children and women who have survived physical and sexual abuse. Integrating my experience, education, and clinical training has allowed me to cultivate post-traumatic growth through the therapeutic relationship.

My treatment approach is trauma-informed and oriented in relational cultural theory (RCT). I strongly uphold the core values of social work and see growth-fostering relationships as a source of empowerment. I use an integrative psychotherapy model rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and tailored to the strengths and needs of each client. I bring my years of education and training, professional experience, personal experience, and genuine empathy to build a brave therapeutic space with you, so you can experience a deeper connection with yourself, others, and the world around you.

Built on a foundation of feminism and multiculturalism, RCT promotes intersectionality and social justice. While CBT provides therapeutic techniques, RCT provides a theory as to how individuals experience emotional distress due to unhealthy relational and cultural images. By “images,” we mean internal schemas or beliefs about an individual’s relationships and social identity. The basic tenet of RCT is that disconnection is the source of emotional distress and connection is the source of health, healing, and wellness. RCT posits context as paramount, bringing the social issues of power, freedom, and oppression into the therapeutic space. RCT helps develop insight into one’s relational and cultural images by processing past experiences, and CBT provides structured action steps we can take to promote change in the present. RCT helps identify relational images, which create and reinforce negative core beliefs that can be challenged in CBT. In other words, CBT guides us in identifying and changing what our deepest held beliefs are that are holding us back from the connection we deserve. RCT guides us in understanding how our past experiences shaped those beliefs, and how our present and future experiences can manifest alternative beliefs. By integrating the two, the therapist can validate disconnections before beginning restructuring. All the while, the therapeutic relationship itself creates a new relational image. Clients internalize that they are worthy of transformative connection.

Establishing and fostering safety is crucial to the therapeutic relationship and, in turn, crucial to therapeutic success. By being transparent and authentic in the therapeutic relationship, I hope to create new relational images and thereby reinforce new, adaptive core beliefs. This integrative psychotherapy model provides space for insight while emphasizing coping skills. I have found that through the lens of RCT, techniques from many other forms of therapy such as cognitive processing therapy (CPT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), existential therapy, attachment therapy, narrative therapy, solution-focused therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), EMDR, and bibliotherapy integrate with CBT quite effortlessly and effectively. This promotes endless opportunities for growth and connection, and a coping skill set as unique and powerful as the client who employs it.

References: 

Comstock, D.L., Hammer, T.R., Strentzsch, J., Cannon, K., Parsons, J. and II, G.S. (2008), Relational-Cultural Theory: A Framework for Bridging Relational, Multicultural, and Social Justice Competencies. Journal of Counseling & Development, 86: 279-287.

Enns, C. Z. (2004). Feminist theories and feminist psychotherapies: Origins, themes, and diversity (2nd ed.). Haworth Press.

Jordan, J. V. (2010). Relational–cultural therapy. American Psychological

Miller, J. B. (1976). Toward a new psychology of women. Boston: Beacon Press.