I am not suggesting that we live a life preoccupied with sorrow. I am saying that our refusal to welcome the sorrows that come to us, our inability to move through these experiences with true presence and conscious awareness, condemns us to a life shadowed by grief. Welcoming everything that comes to us is the challenge. This is the secret to being fully alive.
― Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief
If you're finding it tough to cope with grief, anxiety, or navigating life transitions, know that I'm here to offer support and strategies to help you integrate your experiences. My aim is not to rush you to move on, but rather to move through and with these emotions alongside you. Loss — whether it's from death, break-ups, job changes, or exploring aspects of gender, identity, family dynamics, kink, or non-monogamy — is woven into many of life's challenges. In our sessions together, all these topics and more are open for discussion.
You don’t need to settle for a therapist with whom you can only partially show up, someone who is ok, but not someone with whom you really connect.
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Grief & Loss Therapy
Compassionate, evidence- and experience-based grief therapy offering tailored support to help individuals navigate loss, build resilience, and find meaning in their process. Non-death losses, ambiguous loss, and anticipatory losses are all welcome.
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Therapy for Anxiety
I offer grounded, compassionate therapy for anxiety that equips clients with practical tools to cultivate calm, build confidence, and restore balance in daily life.
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Poly & Non-Monogamy Affirming Therapy
Through lived experience and training, I am equipped as a clinician to help you explore new ways of being in relationship and hold space for where trauma, attachment, and non-monogamy interact.
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Relationship Therapy
I support relationships of all kinds in deepening connection, improving communication, and navigating conflict with clarity and care.
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Gender-Affirming & Exploring Therapy
I am here to support you in relationship to gender; whether you are seeking documentation for affirming medical care or to explore the nuances of gender identity and expression.
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Kink & Sex Positive Therapy
Kink-affirming and sex-positive therapy celebrates the aspects of human experience that are rooted in pleasure and play. This is a sex worker friendly practice.
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Chronic Illness & Caregivers
I support caregivers and individuals living with chronic or serious illnesses by providing a compassionate space to process overwhelm, grief, and identity shifts, while building resilience and sustainable coping strategies.
About Me
Hello! I'm Lori Zaspel (she/they), a licensed clinical social worker here to support you virtually in Pennsylvania (CW0219992) and Florida (TPSW3946). With a focus on grief, medical social work, life transitions, anxiety, dementia, chronic illness, relationships, and end-of-life issues, I aim to create a warm and inviting space for healing and growth.
Drawing from various therapeutic approaches like attachment-based, vaso-vagal, relational-cultural, humanist, feminist, narrative, somatic, and constructivist methods, I tailor our sessions to suit your unique needs and preferences. My goal is to provide evidence-based practices with a gentle, realistic touch, prioritizing your needs every step of the way. Please see my FAQs for more details on my training and theoretical approaches. In addition to private therapy practice, I am a current grief worker with the Salt Trails Collective and former co-founder, educator, and death doula with the Philly Death Doula Collective.
Guided by anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and abolitionist principles, I strive to center justice and liberation in both my therapeutic work and personal life. As a white, queer, currently able-bodied, neurodivergent, femme nonbinary human residing in West Philadelphia with my nesting partner and rescue dog, I cherish creativity through art and the joy of exploring flea markets and yard sales. I hope sharing a glimpse of who I am helps you determine if we're a good fit. If you're ready to begin this journey together, let's connect by clicking here.
Testimonials
“I constantly leave sessions remembering things Lori has said to me. They are super supportive, flexible, warm and real -- anyone (including myself!) is lucky to work with her as a practitioner.”
“Lori is seriously one of my favorite people. I have been seeing her now for a couple years, before she started at Grow and she has really helped me in my everyday life. She has great strategies for dealing with difficult situations.”
Writings & Resources
I use this space for sharing links, events, perspectives, and other relevant resources that current and potential clients could benefit from.
