Lauren Radakovich, State Registered Mental Health Associate EXT: 6963

Lauren has received her masters degree in Professional Mental Health Counseling from Lewis and Clark College. Born and raised in the midwest and upon completing a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Ohio State University, she combined her passions for travel and education by pursuing a Masters in Sociology in Cork Ireland. It was then when Lauren stumbled upon the concept of Biophilia while exploring the link between different cultures and the natural world and her thesis showcased Nature’s ability to reduce stress and improve the mental, physical and emotional health of her research participants. Through Lauren’s own deepening relationship with Nature, she decided to pursue this potential healing on a deeper level with the goal of helping others feel the same benefits. This insight led her to the woods (as it often does) to work with teenage girls in a residential outdoor therapeutic program in central Florida. Living in a tent for two years and watching the girls learn about themselves through nature’s lessons was a profound experience that solidified Lauren’s belief in therapy in an outdoor setting. Lauren enjoys working collaboratively with clients exploring creative solutions to their problems (often in the form of movement, art, or imagination). Counseling from a Gestalt perspective, she believes that therapy is a process of people finding balance in their lives and attempting to integrate different pieces of their internal and external experiences in order to meet their needs, feeling a deeper sense of empowerment. All the while, Lauren believes that nature is our home and when people feel lost or scared, nature can offer a safe place that people can return to, while reminding them that they are alive and interconnected to all living things. In her free time, Lauren enjoys traveling, exploring her new home in the Pacific Northwest, playing with her cat Lea and meddling with all of her hundreds of plant babies in the garden.