Lorna’s Philosophy

Healing is not a solo endeavor.  A trusting therapeutic relationship provides a safe space to face and be freed from painful or shameful parts of your life.  This vulnerability takes courage and involves addressing psychological wounds, unveiling entrenched patterns, and living in alignment with core values and your soul’s purpose.  Getting at the root cause is the goal, rather than mere symptom relief.  Dislodging barriers and breaking free from conditioned programming allows a balanced purposeful life to emerge.

The healing journey is not limited to focusing on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.  Trauma is stored in the body, which expresses what the mind suppresses.  Living in a state of neurological hyperarousal or fear inhibits our innate ability to rebalance.  Breathwork, movement, creative expression, meditation, mindfulness, and communing with nature can serve as grounding techniques that release tension and soothe the nervous system.  Additionally, trauma often leads to heightened spiritual awareness that can open a path of deep self-discovery beyond the storylines of our identity. 

Lorna’s Background

I am passionate about the dynamic field of psychology, have published research on the  mind-body connection  and plant medicine, and taught undergraduate and graduate courses.  My clinical experience spans various outpatient and inpatient settings, to include a community mental health center, college counseling center, and hospital psychiatry department.  I am humbled by people’s courage in facing their struggles and honored to witness their healing.  I decided to open my own practice to break away from a highly medicalized mental health system.

I enjoy learning about different cultures and am fortunate to have family spread across the globe.  I spent my early childhood in the U.K. and after living in a few U.S. cities, returned “home” to the Rochester and Finger Lakes area.

When I’m not immersed in my practice or health and spiritual literature, I savor time with my husband of 20+ years, teenage children, and family dog.  We enjoy hiking, biking, kayaking, tennis, gardening, fires under the stars, and snowboarding excursions.  I make time for reflection and nature daily, whether through mindfulness, meditation, yoga, walking, or connecting with the natural world.

Dave’s Philosophy & Therapeutic Approach

I believe we can all live rich, rewarding, meaningful lives and that we all, regardless of how much we are currently suffering, have a core self that knows how to do this. My goal as a therapist is to help my client’s put their core selves in the driver’s seat.

My primary strength as a therapist is connecting with my clients and helping them understand the feelings and thoughts behind their beliefs and actions, and then helping them learn to love themselves. If we work together, I will strive to help you connect with your core, centered self such that you can make decisions and take actions from a healthy, confident, calm and curious place rather than from a frustrated, angry, depressed or anxious place.

Read more in his Psychology Today profile. 

Credentials

• BA, Comparative Religions, Hamilton College

• MS, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Le Moyne College

• MBA, Finance and Human Resources, Syracuse University

• Limited Permit, LMHC

Dave’s Background

I worked with mentally ill and developmentally disabled adults for 5 years after college before going back to school to get my MBA from Syracuse University. I then worked in upper management for small and medium sized companies, most recently as the CEO of Webucator, a national training company headquartered in Upstate NY, where I worked from 2009 to 2022. Throughout my adult life I have remained interested in mental health and over the last few years it became increasingly clear to me that I wanted to get back into the mental health field. In July of 2024 I graduated from Le Moyne College with my Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

My oldest daughter (now 22) developed anorexia at the age of 10. Since then eating disorders have been a big part of my life in many ways. In addition to the obvious personal ways, I speak regularly to other parents who are going through what we went through at home, I joined the board of FEAST (Families Empowered And Supporting Treatment for Eating Disorders) and I wrote and published a book titled Love, Crowd Out, Forgive, Accept: A Guide to Supporting a Loved One with Anorexia. This whole experience was instrumental in my desire to get back into the mental health field.

My primary non-work activities are spending time with my family (my wife and our three children as well as a lot of extended family we live near and see regularly), playing/working in my yard and gardens, reading and walking in the woods. I’m also loving pickleball! I try to live intentionally, which for me has meant spending more time every year doing mindful activities including meditating, stretching, spending time in nature and more. I serve as Chairman of the Board of the Montessori School of Syracuse, which all three of our children attended, and as Chair of the Finance Committee on FEAST’s board.