The new office manager of EB-CAMFT, Laura Gardner is the subject of this month’s column. “I have some big shoes to fill!” acknowledges the 2006 graduate of JFK University who replaces Harriet Hanauer, recently retired after a 19-year tenure. As office manager, Laura’s duties include everything it takes to keep the organization running, from answering phone calls to working on the website and newsletter, CEU presentations and networking events calendar, and more.
Laura was working as an office manager at UC Berkeley when she began to recognize a growing need for a more fulfilling long-term career. “At the time I had a pretty serious yoga practice,” she explains, “and I was aware that the physical practice really elevated my mental clarity and mood. When I heard that there was an actual somatic psychology field, well, I knew that was it. It made so much sense to me.”
Her theoretical orientation now mixes somatic therapy with psychodynamic and relational process work. “I am really big on identifying what’s in the room (physically and relationally) and linking it back to family of origin material.” She numbers in her professional influences her supervisor, Marsha Hiller, her JFK instructors, “along with Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, Martin Seligman, Christine Caldwell, Ron Kurtz, Susan Aposhyan, Geneen Roth, Irvin Yalom, Jim Kepner, Daniel Stern, D. W. Winnicott, and Arnie Mindell, just to name a few.”
Laura finds her new career especially rewarding because, “I get to be a witness to the client’s own self-discovery. I can’t think of a better or more honorable way to make a living!” She is also passionate about bringing a more multi-racial, multi-cultural slant to the field as well as making her private practice a sustainable career.
Relying on her early graduate school training to “notice without judgment,” Laura also stays mindful of her supervisor’s admonition that, “the reason the client came to therapy in the first place is being reenacted in the room in some way. If she has trouble connecting with others, she will have trouble connecting with you. If he sexualizes all of his relationships, he will sexualize his relationship with you. The reenactments may not always be that clear cut but, the client is showing you how they do relationships out in the world.”
Laura’s psychotherapy practice focuses on anxiety and depression and “whatever keeps the client away from him or herself.” She is especially interested in working with compulsions, “mostly eating, spending, relationships, over-working, sex, and I will work with clients with full-fledged eating disorders, alcohol or substance abuse as long as they’ve already begun their recovery.”
In addition to her growing private practice as an MFT Intern and her work on behalf of EB-CAMFT, Laura continues to work as a massage therapist, runs an online magazine about Caribbean music and culture, and writes for several music publications. “The challenge for me is to make time for myself and take care of myself.” For fun and relaxation, she returns to her roots on the yoga mat, travels locally and attends music festivals.
Laura is currently seeking referrals for individuals, teens, and couples at her North Berkeley office. She offers Saturday appointments and a sliding scale. Visit www.holisticgardner.com for more information or call her at (510) 594-4300.
Lastly, Laura wants everyone to know that she is looking forward to being an active part of the EB-CAMFT community. She is in the office on Tuesday mornings, Wednesday afternoons, and all day Friday and welcomes your calls at 510-848-8400 or email laura at eastbaytherapist dot org.