Joseph LaFleur

Joseph W. LaFleur Jr., LICSW, MBA is the Clinical Director and Principal of District Counseling and Psychotherapy in Washington, DC, bringing 25+ years of clinical experience to his depth-oriented, trauma-informed practice. He combines psychoanalytic training from the Washington Center for Psychoanalysis with certification as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), offering body-based, nervous-system-informed trauma healing alongside traditional depth work rooted in Self Psychology and Object Relations.

Joseph is one of the few senior SE practitioners also certified in psychedelic-assisted therapy (C-PATP), providing clinically grounded support for ketamine-assisted therapy and plant medicine integration. This positions him at the cutting edge of trauma treatment, bridging somatic, psychoanalytic, and emerging psychedelic modalities.

As a gay-identified clinician, Joseph has built a practice that is not merely tolerant of LGBTQ+ clients but is fundamentally designed by and for the full spectrum of identity. He also specializes in men's mental health, creating space for conversations that many men have never had the opportunity to voice. His work spans trauma and PTSD, anxiety and depression, identity and shame, relationships and attachment, and young adult and life transitions.

Joseph is licensed in DC, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York, and offers all services via HIPAA-compliant telehealth in addition to his Washington, DC office. He also provides board-approved clinical supervision for LICSW associates seeking independent licensure across his licensed jurisdictions.