About Lara

  • I strive to be a safe, non-judgmental, respectful, and compassionate presence. My approach is relational and supportive, grounded in deep listening. At the same time, I’m not afraid to gently challenge and invite curiosity when it feels helpful to your growth.

    I hold a holistic, socially-conscious, and depth perspective, seeing each client as a whole, complex person—not as a set of symptoms or a diagnosis. Our work together honors your lived experience, inner strengths, and the broader context of your life.

  • I am a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in Illinois and a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) in Minnesota.

    Before becoming a therapist, I spent many years working in the arts—primarily in community-based non-profits and higher education. This earlier path continues to inform my appreciation for creativity, expression, thinking symbolically, and recognizing the many ways people make meaning in their lives.

    I hold a master’s degree in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, a program rooted in contemplative Buddhist psychology and humanistic principles.

    My clinical experience includes work in private group practices, schools (as a school-based counselor and mindfulness instructor), and bereavement settings—including grief support roles in Boulder and with a Chicago-based hospice program.

    I have completed a two-year Jungian Psychotherapy Program (JPP) at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago (summer 2025) and Level I training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy.

    I have been engaged in meditation practice for over 20 years and am part of an international meditation community. I study and practice Buddhism, Tai Chi, ancestor medicine, and dream work. I enjoy music, gardening, nature, animals, movies, cooking, and the arts.

    • American Counseling Association

    • Illinois Counseling Association

    • Minnesota Counseling Association

    • C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago

    • Minnesota Jung Association

    • Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute

    • MN LGBTQ+ Therapists Network

  • These are dire, heartbreaking times we live in, and I believe it’s important to hold with care the very real impact that collective energies have on our psyches, souls, and day to day lives. I also believe it’s essential to deeply process the grief of our world and planet and to create localized communities of care.

    May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
    May all sentient beings be free from war and famine and the causes of war and famine.
    May all sentient beings have peace and the causes of peace.
    May all sentient beings be free.