Lura Smedstad, LPC - Therapist in Minnesota

About Lura

Lura Smedstad, LPC, offers calm, straightforward help for people dealing with stress, anxiety, grief, parenting challenges, and life changes. She writes and talks in a direct but compassionate way. Lura aims to help clients find clearer goals and healthier patterns in daily life.

Her style is practical and grounded, with attention to emotional and spiritual resources people already carry. She combines cognitive behavioral therapy with creative and somatic elements. That means she uses thought-and-behavior work alongside body-based awareness and art-informed exercises.

Background and approach

Sessions often focus on simple, usable tools to reduce worry, manage difficult feelings, and improve relationships. Lura brings two decades of professional experience to her work. She trained in clinical mental health counseling with an art therapy concentration and has also served in ministerial roles that emphasized personal growth and spiritual development.

Her history includes work in psychiatric settings, community clinics, and educational programs. Clients can expect a tailored plan rather than a one-size-fits-all script. Lura listens for each person’s inner wisdom and helps them connect with it while setting practical steps forward.

Therapy may include talking, exercises to notice body sensations, and creative tasks when helpful. She practices in Minnesota as a Licensed Professional Counselor - LPC. Sessions have been provided remotely since 2020, using video, phone, and messaging formats when appropriate.

The focus is on making steady, sustainable change without overwhelming clients.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online work

Emotionally-Focused Therapy focuses on identifying and reshaping the patterns of emotion that shape relationships. In online sessions this looks like naming feelings, practicing new ways to respond, and rehearsing conversations that improve connection.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps people notice the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions. Online CBT often uses short exercises, thought records, and behavioral experiments that clients can try between sessions to cut down on anxiety and depressive patterns.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. Lura will work together with each person to see which methods fit their needs, goals, and comfort level. That collaborative decision guides the plan for therapy and any adjustments along the way.

Online formats offer flexibility for busy lives. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation, phone sessions remove travel time, and chat or text options support shorter check-ins or ongoing support between meetings. These choices make it easier to keep therapy consistent while fitting work, parenting, and caregiving routines into daily life.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT looks at the link between what you think, how you feel, and what you do. You work on noticing unhelpful patterns and practising steadier responses. It suits online sessions well, because much of the work happens between appointments and can be talked through from anywhere.

Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)

Attends to the emotions underneath a recurring argument or distance, and to the attachment needs driving them. Often used where a relationship keeps returning to the same painful loop.

Mindfulness Therapy

Attention training: noticing thoughts and physical feelings as they arrive without being carried off by them. Much of it is practice you do yourself, so guidance over video or audio works much as it would in person.

Frequently asked questions

What issues does she commonly address?

Lura works with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, parenting concerns, addictions, trauma and related problems. She also focuses on career, self-esteem, and coping with life changes.

How would you describe her therapeutic style?

Her style mixes direct guidance with compassion. She uses practical tools, creative exercises, body awareness, and thought-focused work to help people make changes.

What is her background and experience?

She has 20 years of experience, including work in psychiatric settings, community clinics, and spiritual education programs. Her training includes a masters in clinical mental health counseling with art therapy.

Where is she licensed and located?

She is a Licensed Professional Counselor - LPC, licensed in Minnesota as MN LPC 01916 and practices from Minnesota.

Which languages are used in sessions?

Sessions are offered in English.

What session formats are available online?

She provides video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging for remote work.

How does billing and cost work?

Cost varies with location and therapist availability; services use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.

What steps are needed to begin therapy?

Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule sessions according to the therapist's availability.

Specialties and expertise

Top specialties

Stress, Anxiety
Relationship issues
Family conflicts

Also works with

Therapeutic approaches

Experience: 20 years
Licensed: Minnesota
Languages: English

Next step

Talk to Lura

Takes a few minutes
Nothing to set up just to look
Stop at any point

Book with Lura