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Portrait of Lauren Kreitner, Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession
Contributor

Lauren Kreitner

Family Violence Social Worker; Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession

Lauren Kreitner is a family violence social worker. She works directly with victim-survivors, providing safety planning, housing support and case management through some of the hardest periods of their lives. Her work sits at the point where a support need becomes a legal one, and she brings that perspective to The Profession, including as co-presenter of its CPD session Beyond the Referral: Bridging Family Law and Family Violence Services. Lauren is also Head of Partnerships & Operations at The Profession, where she has built much of the platform's infrastructure since 2025, focusing on systems that let it grow while keeping the member experience curated and intuitive. She studied at Monash University.

Contributions

Career Journeys · Career

Between roles and bridging careers

Lauren Kreitner trained as a social worker in family violence, where most of the work happens between agencies such as police, courts, housing providers and schools. Now Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships at The Profession, she explains why the move felt like the same job in a different building, and why the skills of the caring professions travel further than people think.

Lauren KreitnerFamily Violence Social Worker; Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession
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The Dilemma · Profession

"My client messages me at midnight, and it's stopped being about the case."

A lawyer's client in a parenting matter has started messaging late at night, and the messages have turned personal: "you're the only person who gets me", and a photo of a bottle of wine. Lauren Kreitner explains why setting boundaries isn't abandoning a client, how to reset the relationship without ending it, why to tell someone at work now, and how to point a client towards the support a lawyer can't give.

Lauren KreitnerFamily Violence Social Worker; Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession
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The Dilemma · Culture

"My partner says I chose work over us years ago. I didn't notice."

In a trial-heavy year, home after 9 most nights and working Sundays, a lawyer is told by their partner that they chose work over the relationship years ago. Lauren Kreitner explains why that conversation is a turning point rather than an ending, why "it's temporary" stops being true after three years, and the small, consistent changes that show a partner they still matter.

Lauren KreitnerFamily Violence Social Worker; Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession
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The Dilemma · Profession

"I cry in the car after court, then go home and make dinner."

After four years in child protection, a practitioner has started crying in the car after court, then going home as if nothing happened, without telling their partner or their boss. Lauren Kreitner, a social worker who left child protection work herself, explains the difference between a bad day and burnout or vicarious trauma, how to work out what is driving it, and why the first step is not to carry it alone.

Lauren KreitnerFamily Violence Social Worker; Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession
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The Dilemma · Ethics

"My client hinted she doesn't see the point anymore. I'm a lawyer, not a counsellor."

A junior family lawyer’s isolated client calls almost daily, and late in one call says she sometimes doesn’t see the point. A social worker explains how to go back and ask her directly, where to refer her, why boundaries protect the client as well as the lawyer, and how to recognise the early signs of vicarious trauma.

Lauren KreitnerFamily Violence Social Worker; Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession
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