Lauren Ratliff, LCSW, PMH-C

Lauren Ratliff, LCSW, PMH-C, is the Founder and CEO of Matrescence Therapy, a virtual group practice dedicated to supporting women and parents through every stage of reproductive and maternal mental health. Lauren leads the practice with a mission to make high-quality, evidence-based mental health care more accessible to women navigating fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, parenting, and midlife transitions.

Lauren’s passion for this work is both professional and deeply personal. Like many women, she discovered that motherhood was far more complex than she had anticipated. Alongside immense joy came anxiety, identity shifts, grief, overwhelm, and the pressure to meet impossible expectations. After experiencing postpartum mental health issues herself, she became even more committed to changing how we talk about maternal mental health and ensuring that women never have to struggle alone.

Before founding Matrescence Therapy, Lauren spent over twelve years working with adults experiencing depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, medical illness, and major life transitions. At Northwestern Medicine, she specialized in women’s mental health, coordinating care and providing therapy within a nationally recognized perinatal program. Working alongside OB-GYNs, perinatal psychiatrists, and multidisciplinary healthcare teams reinforced her belief that mental health deserves to be an integral part of women’s healthcare.

Lauren is also a speaker, educator, and advocate who enjoys helping individuals, healthcare professionals, and organizations better understand the emotional realities of motherhood, parenting, identity transitions, and women’s mental health. Her goal is to normalize these conversations, reduce stigma, and ensure that no woman feels she has to navigate life’s biggest transitions without support.