Laura O'Loughlin, LMSW, is on the clinical staff of Payne Whitney at New York-Presbyterian, where she uses mindfulness and behavioral approaches to help clients reduce stress and alleviate depression and anxiety. She is a founder and current Director of Brooklyn Zen Center, where she teaches and offers Zen meditation. She is currently in the Clinical Fellowship Training Program at Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy and is studying relational psychotherapy through the Stephen Mitchell Center for Relational Studies. She is also in the Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program where she volunteers as a spiritual counselor offering end-of-life care to individuals and their families.

Prior to co-founding Brooklyn Zen Center, Laura trained and lived in various Buddhist communities since 1997, including Tassajara Zen Monastery and San Francisco Zen Center. She was also Director of Austin Zen Center, where she studied the interface between eastern and western psychologies. She has extensive corporate and non-profit experience working on issues affecting woman, including women’s leadership development, balancing professional and personal roles, domestic violence, and issues related to sexual orientation.

Laura’s interests and expertise are in the following areas:

• Helping clients overcome anxiety and depression
• Counseling clients experiencing grief and loss
• Helping clients to foster their self-esteem
• Supporting clients through role and life transitions
• Facilitating exploration of spiritual concerns and needs
• Helping clients resolve interpersonal and relationship problems
• Leading mindfulness and meditation practices for individuals and groups