Rising Stars: Meet Lauren Reedy of Foothills

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Reedy.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started working with children with autism in college, in 1999, and loved the work. After college with degrees in Environmental Studies and English, while working at an internship with New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, I worked part time weekend hours at a behavioral health hospital on the inpatient children’s unit, then adult and adolescent units. This helped guide me to a passion in working in mental/ behavioral healthcare, and more with people, rather than on environmental issues. I decided to go to back to graduate school for counseling psychology and I found a school in New Hampshire that specialized in Dance/ Movement Therapy and Counseling Psychology- I had always been a dancer and loved the creative arts and wanted to study this as a modality for therapy, as well as get the certified credential for more mainstream ” talk” therapy… I went to Antioch University New England in Keene, NH. The program then was fantastic and I learned how creative arts therapies can tap into different levels of therapeutic processing than just regular talk therapy.
Starting out, I worked primarily with adults in mental health hospitals and step-down programs after hospitalization, then moved more into outpatient therapy work. I used my movement therapy and creative arts therapy training to lead movement therapy groups in hospitals and assisted living communities throughout Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as in Hawaii and Massachusetts. I also got a specialty and training in addictions work and continued to use this in my jobs with adults with co-occurring mental health and substance use needs.
I moved to Denver in 2013 and continued working in outpatient settings with a co-occurring population and became a supervisor of a co-occurring team in outpatient community mental health, in 2015. I still work with the same team today and our team provides excellent support and therapy for over 1200 clients a year with co-occurring behavioral health concerns.
I have continued dancing (West African, belly dance, contemporary, fusion) and in 2021 my friend in dance class suggested I join her for a local runway fashion modeling show. I did and this began an exciting new hobby, which has included traveling to and walking in New York Fashion Week (3 times), Milan Fashion Week and recently, Tokyo Fashion Week. This has been a fun side endeavor that is so creative and artistic and helps balance out my work life. I continue to dance and this also allows me to express my creative side when not working in behavioral healthcare.
I also have been studying a healing modality called The Journey Method (by Brandon Bays). I offer practice sessions in the method currently, as part of my coaching and private practice.
I see therapy clients in private practice through Sondermind and work with couples and individual clients.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I struggled a lot growing up with insecurity and self-doubt– chronic anxiety and feeling not good enough. Through my own work in 12 steps and other healing modalities (The Journey with Brandon Bays), I have been able to overcome the chronic self-doubt and anxiety. I practice a lot of affirmations and meditation and surround myself with positive people and things to keep my anxiety managed. It’s hard knowing how critical ppl are all around us, and then having that same internal mindset magnifies it, so I work daily on this.
My dad was my best friend and mostly raised me when my mom lived overseas while I was growing up. He was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when I was 10 (he was early 40’s) and I lived watching him struggle as the disease progressed. He was the best example for me, of humility, acceptance, hardship, grounding and love. I moved to Colorado (where he was born and raised and retired to when the illness became too hard) in 2013 to be close to him at what I knew was nearing the end of his life. We had 10 amazing years together where he lived in assisted living and I could visit him a couple times per week- we were best friends and enjoyed each other’s company.
When he passed in 2023, I got to be with him the last 3 days of his life, and by his side for his very last breath, which was an extremely powerful time. I recommend this for any loved one.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’ve been enjoying being a part of the runway and fashion modeling scene since 2021. As a woman in her mid- 40s, it is fun to join in this community, which has become more diverse and accepting in the last few years. I love to be a part of a typically very young scene and show that older more mature models can also stay relevant to fashion. I’ve been able to walk in New York Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week and Tokyo Fashion Week.
I also practice different dance forms- currently a lot of belly dance, fusion and contemporary.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My dad played a huge role in teaching me about the hardship of life, while I watched him struggle with MS. My first internship mentor, when i was studying Dance/Movement Therapy at a hospital in Vermont, Lynn Huston, was a great role model to me of showing creativity, empathy and grounding, as well as two of my grad school teachers, Kim (Kamala) Burden and Alice Scudder- all strong and warm, empathic women.
My mother has also been a great role model throughout my life- she is so strong and perseveres and is determined, full of energy, and really smart.

Pricing:

• Journey Method practice sessions- FREE

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lreedy11.wixsite.com/lauren-reedy?mibextid=ncKXMA
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurencoloradomodel/?igsh=Ynp6amxpMnYwNml1#