Head-to-toe transformation toward better mental wellness
There are many routes to supporting mental wellness, but they aren’t all equal.
I believe that support for mental wellness should take advantage of the body’s self-healing design. My specialty is guiding you to the state of wellness you picture when you think of “the good life.” Here’s the secret: Our nervous system constantly scopes for clues about how it should adapt and react. To thrive, we need optimal brain health and cell-to-cell communication. That’s where the principles of GROOVE THERAPY™ shine. Our bodies can work for us, not against us!
My clients are action-taking individuals and clinical, corporate and community leaders who want every moment of their lives to count for something.
My clients usually have a lot of other people “hanging on their nail.” Other people count on them to be on top of their game and need them to be role models so they can become their best selves. They are raw, real innovators who listen, learn, and lead to make this world a better place for the sake of others.
The difference in working with me is that you get more than a coping strategy. You get a front row experience of evidence-based practices tailored to transform your brain health as you lead others.
Rather than denying the physical and emotional anguish that rip our hearts out, I acknowledge trauma and stress that lead to dys-ease, and we walk toward safety and a growing sense of mental wellness together.
I’m not here to slap a bandaid on a gaping wound. This work is about healing for good so that wellness endures.
Hi! I’m Laurel. True believer in the great comeback, founder of the Groove Therapy Institute, and developer of the Groove Therapy model.
You can call me naïve if you want to, but I can’t help longing for a world where everyone is cared for and whole and better mental wellness gets to be fun.
I made the radical, mid- career shift from ethnomusicologist to board certified advanced practice nurse to share the real-world benefits of drumming together for mental wellness. Combined with gut-brain health and primitive reflex integration, I support my clients with a spectrum of care that is complementary to all other therapies. To my knowledge, this combination of care isn’t available anywhere else.
Compassion for suffering drives everything I do.
In 2007, an orthopedic surgeon finally took me seriously. He used a $77 “flamingo pose” x-ray to reveal that my pelvis was broken in two places, and it had been broken since 1993. For almost fifteen years I had begged every primary care doctor and OB/GYN who cared for me to help me understand why I experienced tear-inducing, inescapable pain while standing, sitting, walking, and lying down.
That level of chronic pain had created a physical and emotional crisis in my world—let alone the fear and self-doubt that I would never be well and it all might be “in my head.” I wasn’t the mom, wife, or friend I wanted to be. My meager energy was concentrated on my job so I could halfway excuse my deplorable behavior at home.
After two surgeons patched me together with stainless steel and titanium, my nervous system was shot. My spouse prodded me to keep searching for help until I resolved all my other health problems.
One by one, I reversed my chronic dys-ease including more than thirty years of hypothyroidism, chronic pain, and depression.
I don’t want you to wait another decade, another month, or another day before you take charge of your wellness.
Your life is passing you by now while you’re too sick and tired or too down and out to care.
I want you to walk into the future with the best brain health, immune integrity, and psychological vigor possible.
So I want you to join me.
This kind of care is the fun you’ve been craving.
I like picture books better than novels. I like hiking better than sitting on the beach. With my spouse of more than 33 years, we raised our posse of GenZ kiddos to love historical sites and museums as much as waterparks and amusement rides.
When I’m not scheming to become the first global Minister of Groove, I’m soaking up time in the forest by camping and hiking. Even there I have a song in my heart!
I’m an action-taker, and I’ve designed my brian health programs to support action-oriented people. This includes folks in substance use recovery, wrap-around care for youth aged out of foster care, families healing from trauma together, and clinical, corporate or community agencies who want next-level mental wellness for their associates.
I’m driven by hope that people can learn brain health techniques that become theirs forever—a foundation for mental wellness that no one can take away.
You might be very skeptical.
We’re barraged by commercials showing happy, shiny people who take a pill and cure their psychological problems. I haven’t met anyone yet who has experienced recovery that way. I help you lead yourself and others toward brain health in ways that are fun, self-motivating, and welcoming, so that you and yours flourish.
A Few Things I Believe In…
Together we have everything we need
Most of the pain and loss we experience is because of greed and deterioration of our natural world. We were designed for close communion, and we aren’t complete without it.
Psychotropic drugs have their place
Medications can be useful for stabilizing individuals experiencing mental health crises. However, decreasing brain inflammation and increasing beneficial brain growth are the way to remission.
Trauma is a way the brain functions after being injured
Assaults to the body, mind, and spirit change the way the brain functions and stores memories. This altered way of being is trauma. No matter the complexity and duration of the insults of trauma, there is a way forward.
Everyday luxuries make having our senses worthwhile
Pain comes into our experience through our senses and robs us of joy. Experiencing the finer things in life reminds us why sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing were created—for good rather than for evil.
We’re all adjusting as we go
No one is born a thoroughly just, merciful, or humble human being, and few of us are raised with all the skills we need to be our best selves. No matter where we are in life, we can gain competence in communication, civility, and compassion.
Learning leads to doing better
I am a discoverer. I thrive on change. When you need reassurance and consistency, say so. Otherwise I’m very comfortable with shaking up the status quo.
Family secrets are the undercurrents of heritable pain
Violence against the body and the soul is more than we were meant to handle. Abuse should not have happened to you. It’s OK if you’re not OK. Your recovery from these violations will mean you are the beginning of better health for generations to come.
Businesses should be generative rather than transactional
My highest aim is to amplify the goodness you experience in the world. I want you to have confidence when you put your energy and dollars behind attaining mental wellness. I do my best to treat you as I want to be treated. I appreciate feeling like a human being when you treat me that way, too.
Take a hike!
I get my best ideas when I’m walking or showering. I love it when a plan comes together.
You got this far on hope
I’m proud of you for never giving up on the idea that there is a way to think, feel, and act better than you do right now.
Together we have everything we need
Most of the pain and loss we experience is because of greed and deterioration of our natural world. We were designed for close communion, and we aren’t complete without it.
Psychotropic drugs have their place
Medications can be useful for stabilizing individuals experiencing mental health crises. However, decreasing brain inflammation and increasing beneficial brain growth are the way to remission.
Trauma is a way the brain functions after being injured
Assaults to the body, mind, and spirit change the way the brain functions and stores memories. This altered way of being is trauma. No matter the complexity and duration of the insults of trauma, there is a way forward.
Everyday luxuries make having our senses worthwhile
Pain comes into our experience through our senses and robs us of joy. Experiencing the finer things in life reminds us why sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing were created—for good rather than for evil.
We’re all adjusting as we go
No one is born a thoroughly just, merciful, or humble human being, and few of us are raised with all the skills we need to be our best selves. No matter where we are in life, we can gain competence in communication, civility, and compassion.
Learning leads to doing better
I am a discoverer. I thrive on change. When you need reassurance and consistency, say so. Otherwise I’m very comfortable with shaking up the status quo.
Family secrets are the undercurrents of heritable pain
Violence against the body and the soul is more than we were meant to handle. Abuse should not have happened to you. It’s OK if you’re not OK. Your recovery from these violations will mean you are the beginning of better health for generations to come.
Businesses should be generative rather than transactional
My highest aim is to amplify the goodness you experience in the world. I want you to have confidence when you put your energy and dollars behind attaining mental wellness. I do my best to treat you as I want to be treated. I appreciate feeling like a human being when you treat me that way, too.
Take a hike!
I get my best ideas when I’m walking or showering. I love it when a plan comes together.
You got this far on hope
I’m proud of you for never giving up on the idea that there is a way to think, feel, and act better than you do right now.