LAURYN MALDONADO

     Lauryn began her career working in inpatient psychiatric care hospitals in 2016, working her way up from front end staff to team lead and direct care admission staff in less than two years. During this time, Lauryn was also working full-time towards her Bachelors of Science in Psychology at Sam Houston State University with a goal to also obtain a Masters that would allow her to enter the field of counseling and therapy. After spending a few years working in the medical field as direct care staff at a hospital, Lauryn’s passion and drive to return to the mental health field only strengthened. In 2020, Lauryn completed her Masters in Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington. During this process, Lauryn was working and interning full time with Twin City Mission Youth and Family Services as a Family Support Specialist, where she worked directly with child clients and their guardians. Additionally, at a local Mental Health Mental Retardation (MHMR), she worked as a Qualified Mental Health Professional (QMHP) with adults, children, and transition aged youth with severe mental illness, often at risk for placement outside of the home or already placed outside of the home in residential treatment programs.
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     Lauryn's second internship was as a crisis intervention specialist and she completed/coordinated crisis assessments, safety planning, and hospitalizations when necessary for clients within the community and at local hospitals. In all of these roles, Lauryn provided individual and family sessions with an emphasis in strengths-based recovery, case management, skills trainings, and crisis services. A month after obtaining her Masters in Social Work, Lauryn took the licensing test and became a Licensed Master of Social Work in March of 2020, moving to San Antonio, TX with her husband and two dogs.
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     Lauryn brings six years of experience to the Integrated team. Lauryn believes that there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to treatment and recovery. Lauryn utilizes a kind, compassionate approach to understand and collaborate with Students and their families to find what works best for their individual situation. Lauryn is all too familiar with the consequences of patients and clients feeling as if they are just a name or number on an assembly line and strives to combat this with various client-centered, individualized approaches that allow the individual space to make their own decisions, providing guidance and support along the way. She is also familiar and aware that a student’s success is never measured the same and looks different from student to student, evolving and changing during their journey.

     In Lauryn’s spare time you can find her spending time with her husband, two dogs, and friends or reading. She enjoys outdoor activities such as: soccer, softball, horseback riding, and fishing.