Laura Goorin, PhD

06/22/2026

Some songs don't just play, they rip through you.

I call them "Summer Screamer Songs." The ones where rage, loss, or joy crescendo into something that cracks you open. Janis Joplin. Chavela Vargas. Bessie Smith. Mahalia Jackson.

But why those songs? Why that feeling?

In my latest piece, I explore how music can act as a form of catharsis, helping us release joy, grief, longing, rage, and everything in between. Drawing from attachment theory, certain songs become our safe haven, secure base, or even mirrors of our deepest relationships.

Summer is when this is most felt. It's the season of collective joy and quiet loneliness, sometimes in the same afternoon.

🎵 Explore the Full piece & 25-song playlist here: https://www.drlauragoorin.com/summer-playlist-screamer-songs-and-the-ethology-of-catharsis-on-our-attachment-systems/

What's your ultimate Summer Screamer song?

06/15/2026

🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride Month!

A trans teen I worked with 15 years ago inspired me to found Q-TOWN. What I've learned since: acceptance is medicine. A parent simply trying to use their child's chosen pronouns can stop suicidal ideation overnight. You don't have to be perfect; you have to try.

🌈Read the full post here: https://www.drlauragoorin.com/spoken-from-the-mouths-of-babes-part-2/

Every child deserves to be seen for who they truly are.

Happy Pride month to all my q***r and trans friends. I founded Q***r – Trans or Whatever Network (Q-TOWN), a group for all ages, after working with a trans teen about 15 years ago who inspired a rainbow-shaded movement.

06/01/2026

Have you ever felt truly alone in your pain, like no one could really understand what you were carrying?

AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy) is a therapy built around one powerful intention: undoing that aloneness. And the healing? It can start from the very first session.

I just wrote about what AEDP is, why resilience is at its heart, and what transformation in therapy can actually look like.

Read the full post:
https://www.drlauragoorin.com/contemplating-aedp-what-is-it/

05/19/2026

Separation anxiety is one of the most common struggles I see in young children, and one of the most courageous things to work through.

In therapy, we often talk about the power of letting go. But hearing it spoken aloud by a child, in their own words, is something else entirely.

In my latest blog post, I share the story of a 9-year-old who taught me, and herself, what it truly means to let go

Read the full story here:
https://www.drlauragoorin.com/contemplating-separation-as-spoken-from-the-mouths-of-babes/

Sometimes the most profound therapy insights come from the youngest voices.

I once knew a 9-year-old girl who indeed did one of the most prized renditions of therapy with her and me on my website—me with hyper-eyelashes, her with eyes for days, in her depiction of us both engaged in soul-playing.

05/12/2026

I’m sharing some thoughts on sobbing in subways, an underrated verb for a world currently at war with itself.

By blending Durkheim’s "collective effervescence” with the clinical lens of AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), this piece explores how New York’s lack of physical space creates a profound opportunity for undoing aloneness.

Full piece here: https://www.drlauragoorin.com/in-praise-of-subway-sobbing/

You're not alone in this.

As a psychologist, I have been listening to myself prescribing this one to the masses recently. It’s an underrated verb, “sobbing in subways.”