Laurie-Anne Jackson
Psychotherapist
About Me
Love is Space can mean a lot of things and it was the dear Rev. angel Kyodo williams (Zen priest) who captured my heart with the phrase. For these purposes here, it means that all beings need a space and a place to be psychologically “held” in an environment of loving attention and care. My hope is that in working with me, clients can learn how to relate to their own experience with loving care and attention in daily life.
Born, raised and still residing in Taunton, MA. I knew from the time I was in my late adolescence that I wanted to be in private practice and be of benefit to others. A graduate of Taunton High School, I grew up with my father, a Vietnam veteran who, post war, role modeled being of service for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. My mother was on disability for most of my early childhood and mental health became an interest from this relationship. I have one older brother, who strongly influenced my passion for anti-racism as he ardently self-educated around issues like capitalism and slavery. With this foundation of family dynamics, I deeply wanted to understand human suffering and so I began my journey with the study of Developmental Psychology. I attended Emmanuel College in Boston where I completed my first degree, a Bachelor of Arts in Developmental Psychology and I graduated in 2000.
A few years later in 2005 and since having worked in a juvenile detention center for male youth as a mental health clinician, I began to clearly understand the impact of my own adverse childhood experiences and also that of others. I became curious about suffering and discovered meditation and Buddhism as a way to help me better cope with early adulthood and the client relationships I had. Finding Buddhism had me fervently investigating writers who examined philosophy and the self in my twenties. Discovering Eastern ideas left me fascinated with the culture at large. Not long after I became a mother for the first time in 2006 and while a child protective social worker in Brockton, MA, I continued with study at Bridgewater State University (BSU) for graduate training. Once I completed my Masters Degree in 2009 at the nationally accredited counseling program at BSU, I humbly realized that there was still, much more to learn about suffering. After working in disenfranchised communities with families and interfacing with broken systems, I learned first hand about the impact of disparity and inequality. With this, I continued my training to further understand the impact of trauma at Simmons College and received a Post-Masters Certificate from their social work program. This was a clinical certificate in the relational and multi-contextual treatment of trauma. This led me to a lifelong dream since early childhood. A journey to the continent of Africa, specifically, Uganda on an International Learning Project where I participated in working with governmental and non-governmental organizations addressing issues of HIV/AIDS, Child welfare, Mental Health, and Human rights in schools, clinics and welfare organizations.
Psychotherapy
I began private practice in 2011 upon receiving my license as a Mental Health Counselor in Massachusetts. What I found a few years into the work as a psychotherapist was that still, there was much more to understand about how to best support an individual within the counseling relationship. I found that the historical pathologizing of suffering in our culture was problematic. With this, unconditional positive regard, genuineness and compassion became crucial to offer while relating to and caring for my clients suffering. Sounds simple, but this kind of presence is difficult to embody. Bearing witness to suffering requires a particular kind of attention, presence and attunement. The benefits were clear however that normalizing and validating the suffering of the human experience from a heart-felt place was the ground of helping others. What I still felt was missing in my training, was being able to offer not just a skillset but a path to intentionally hold and relate to their own suffering in a way that was beneficial to the mind, heart and body. As a part-time faculty member in the Psychology and Counseling graduate program at Cambridge College, I also found it imperative to bring truth to light for students in the classroom regarding both the challenges and the beauty of psychotherapy. I always stressed the importance of the personal, embodied and psychological work of the counselor in training as well. In other words, does the counselor themselves explore the depth of their own suffering?
How can we best support others if we have yet brought ourselves to the same vulnerable task?
Institute of meditation
and psychotherapy
Because of my continued wish to be a beneficial presence in the face of human suffering, this meant a personal and lifetime committment to understanding the self, what it means to be human, and how to hold the truth that all beings will and do experience suffering in this lifetime. This also meant that I had to accept that I could not “fix” the challenges being faced by my clients as well. As mentioned, I had personally found Buddhism and meditation to be of enormous benefit in my own life. I felt formal training was needed to help bring these contemplative ideas and practices into the therapy room. A more holistic, dharma oriented psychotherapy approach interested me as it has a collective focus of mind, body, and heart. With this, I completed a Post-Masters Certificate of training at the Institute of Meditation and Psychotherapy (IMP) in 2018. IMP is the oldest and most comprehensive training in mindfulness and psychotherapy. The course forms the didactic core for the Advanced Fellowship in Mindfulness and Psychotherapy at the CHA Center for Mindfulness and Compassion (CHA-Cambridge Health Alliance) affiliated with the Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry– the first such professional advanced clinical fellowship for training of mental health professionals associated with a major medical school.
Talk therapy
Unfortunately, there are still so many myths about counseling and what it actually is. The term psychotherapy is derived from Ancient Greek psyche (ψυχή meaning "breath; spirit; soul") and therapeia (θεραπεία "healing; medical treatment"). Talk therapy is a very effective, liberating and empowering way of sorting out the complexity of our heart-mind with a trusted other. Many of us are sometimes feeling heartbroken or facing uncertainty from time to time and it’s an honor for me to give people a space for vulnerability to be attended to in a caring, supportive and non-judgmental way. My approach to psychotherapy is one that is rooted in compassion for the common humanity that we all share. For example, that life is uncertain, full of change and that impermanence is a great reality and truth. It is also of crucial importance to me for prospective clients to know that my office is a safe space, (especially for individuals who are marginalized) to be. “We are each unique. Unique does not mean special. Unique means specific.”-Sebene Selassie
At this time, I am accepting clients whom are therapists that are interested in a supportive holding environment for themselves. Should this be of your interest,
I can be reached at livingbeingmindful@gmail.com
Other resources include:
www.psychologytoday.com to look for a licensed therapist or peercollectivementalhealth.com
“At Peer Collective, we’re committed to creating a world in which everyone has abundant access to high-quality emotional support. Peer Collective counselors have passed our rigorous screening and demonstrate exceptional empathy, warmth, and understanding. They are not licensed therapists and don’t diagnose or treat mental disorders. Instead, their job is to support you
in whatever way you want to be supported.”
I also would like to promote the work of www.innopsych.com. This platform helps BIPOC friends and family have access to
therapy offered by (and content written by) people of color.
clinical EXPERIENCE
I have served in a variety of positions such as mental health clinician, child protective social worker, supervisor, manager, faculty member and psychotherapist since 2001. These positions were held with the Department of Youth Services, Department of Children and Families, Department of Mental Health, FEMA, Cambridge College and Bridgewater State University. I recently completed a 10 year faculty position at Cambridge College in their graduate Psychology and Counseling program and mainly taught the courses Post Traumatic Stress Reactions and Human Development. Other courses taught were Holistic Approaches to Psychotherapy, Ethics and Professional Issues, Rogerian Person-Centered Therapy and Applied Counseling within these graduate counseling programs.
MEDITATION AND TEACHERS
I completed a three year deepening dharma teacher training with Bill Morgan, PsyD and Susan Morgan, MSN, RN, CS., in 2023. Supervision and mentorship will continue beyond this study. I currently participate in ongoing study, daily meditation, retreat and writing with psychotherapists, teachers and spiritual friends on the intersection of Buddhadharma and Psychotherapy. I feel beyond fortunate to have met Bill and Susan at the Institute of Meditation and Psychotherapy in 2017 as they are the meditation teachers for the program. Bill and Susan have extensive study and experience and completed a four year silent retreat together. Susan has practiced in the Zen, Vipassana and more recently Tibetan practices and now is drawn to work with therapists and caregivers seeking to deepen their own meditation practice and therapeutic presence. Susan is a true gift for the mindfulness + psychotherapy world. Bill has lived in a Trappist monastery, at a Zen Center in California and also lived at Chogyam Trungpa’s Tibetan center in Boston upon graduating in 1975. He ultimately gravitated towards Vipassana practice and taught several lengthy course teachings at the Insight Meditation Society with Joseph Goldstein. Following this, he earned a Psy.D. and began a private practice in Cambridge and Quincy. More can be learned about our teachers, Bill and Susan at billandsusan.org
I have had the good fortune of a long time relationship and friendship with the Theravada monks and temple since 2005 in Raynham, MA. This relationship formed many years before the temple (NMR Meditation Center) opened to the public in 2014. Prior to the stunning new temple, the NMR meditation center was a small farmhouse where the monks lived and practiced. I would go and “sit” with my own suffering and this was how my journey began with meditation and mindfulness. Prior to the pandemic, I was offering meditation classes for adults and children at the NMR Meditation Center, now the second largest Thai temple in the world right here in our own backyard near Taunton, MA.
I am committed to examining the role love and justice has in my meditation + spiritual practice. I continue to seek opportunities to learn from and study the important work of teachers Rev. angel Kyodo williams and Lama Rod Owens to explore this important relationship between the two. Lastly, I give thanks to the Jizo-An Zen Community in New Jersey for holding space for us to practice Zazen online. I stumbled upon this Zen community right before the pandemic started and their commitment to a daily sit open to all is a gift.
A daily sit offering is also given by our teachers and the link is above for more details.
AMBASSADOR
I am an ambassador and graduate of the Institute of Meditation and Psychotherapy Advanced Clinical Certificate of Training. If you are a therapist with an interest in advanced training in meditation and psychotherapy, please consider applying. If I can be of any help with questions please email me: livingbeingmindful@gmail.com | IMP details: 9-month intensive Post Masters Certificate Program of personal and intellectual study with distinguished faculty interaction to include 120 plus hours of group interaction and ongoing meditation support and retreat experience. It is the oldest and most comprehensive training in mindfulness and psychotherapy. Affiliated with Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry, the course establishes to foundation to teach or apply mindfulness both personally and professionally. The course offers a clinical integration of mindfulness into various practice settings with different disorders, populations and theoretical orientations. Pertinent current research, lectures and reading was included in programming by international experts, along with live discussion and case consultation with faculty. http://www.meditationandpsychotherapy.org/earn-certificate
CRISIS LINE
We can all help prevent suicide. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals. If you’re in crisis, there are options available to help you cope. You can also call the Lifeline at any time to speak to someone and get support. For confidential support available 24/7 for everyone in the United States, call 1-800-273-8255 or Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Counselor. It is a very beneficial service if you’re feeling isolated and need some connection, care and support during a crisis experience. We also have the local crisis center located in Norton, MA for those whom live in the Southeastern Area of Massachusetts.
