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Laurie is an RN, healing touch certified practitioner, certified clinical aromatherapist and certified in guided imagery. She left western medicine because she wanted to treat the whole person and get to the root cause of the illness rather then just treat symptoms. She believes health and illness involves the body, mind and spirit and all must be addressed for true healing to occur and to maintain health.

Laurie first became interested in holistic (also called complementary) therapies in the early 1980s when she returned to college to get her bachelor’s degree in nursing. She did a study on guided imagery and chronic pain relief. Holistic therapies were not widely accepted at that time so she continued with western medicine knowing that one day she would return to holistic therapies.

Laurie’s experience as an RN is very diverse, from critical care unit, telemetry unit and emergency room to visiting home health nurse and asthma nurse specialist. In her 30+ years of nursing she observed that many people did not improve with medications and surgery, especially those with chronic issues. She also realized that holding someone’s hand, giving them a back rub or just listening to them frequently relieved pain as well as or better then medication.

In 2007 two separate incidents occurred to put her back on her holistic path. First she took a class in healing touch, a form of energy medicine founded by an RN. She loved it and saw all the ways it could help people to heal. She continued her training and became certified in 2008. She started a part-time private practice while working part-time in a hospital emergency room. Second a nursing colleague and friend introduced her to essential oils. She experienced such good results using the oils on herself, family and friends that she starting using them in her healing sessions with great success. She studied and became a certified clinical aromatherapist.

Laurie was still fascinated with the power of the mind and guided imagery from the study she did in college. She searched the web and found the Academy of Guided Imagery which is founded by Dr. Bressler whose book she based her study on! That was a year long program which she completed in 2010 for certification.

Laurie’s holistic healing experiences include an internship at a wellness center, home visits, volunteering at a complementary therapies clinic for low income women with cancer and her private practice in Alameda. Laurie loves working with clients that want to take an active role in their health and healing. She believes in educating people about self-care techniques, giving them information about various holistic therapies and is able to see each client’s unique strengths and abilities. She enjoys providing client’s with a safe, relaxing, nurturing environment so they can release fear, stress and anxiety in order to take control of their health and feel empowered.