What does it really take to transition to a traveling therapist lifestyle? For Laurie Amato, it’s been about listening to her heart, taking small, intentional steps, and staying open to what’s possible. Laurie, the founder of Rooted Restoration, started her career in non-profit work in chilly Philadelphia, where making a difference was her driving force. Private practice wasn’t part of her original plan, but as her dreams of where she wanted to live evolved, she found herself taking the leap—first into private practice and then transitioning to a traveling therapist.
Now recently living in Jamaica, Laurie is combining her love for helping others with her passion for adventure. In this episode, she shares how she made the shift, the careful steps she took to ensure her practice could support her move to a new country, and how she’s building meaningful connections in her new home. Laurie’s story is a powerful reminder that creating a life filled with purpose and possibility doesn’t happen overnight—it’s about trusting the process and moving forward, one step at a time.
In This Episode, We Explore…
Connect with Laurie:
https://www.rootedrestoration.com
https://www.instagram.com/rootedrestoration
Connect with me:
Instagram: @thetravelingtherapist_kym
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Revolutionize Your Private Practice with AI Course: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/ai
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The Traveling Therapist Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/onlineandtraveling/
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Transcript:
Kym: Hi, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Traveling Therapist Podcast. Really excited to have our guest today. Lori Amato is here with us. She's got a super cool story. You guys are going to love hearing from her. Lori, I would love for you to tell the listeners, how did you go from being a traditional therapist to a traveling therapist?
Laurie: Yes, great question. I'm, I'm so happy to be here with you today. And you know, the traveling therapist, you, and you know, a part of a part of this journey, right. And a part of the inspiration for me. And so it's great to be here with you and then just share some of my journey. So yeah, I have, I have always loved to travel, right.
First of all, before I was long before I was ever even a therapist. I've loved traveling, other cultures, foods, just the richness of experiencing different places. And I've always envisioned myself, you know, continuing that throughout my life.
Kym: Mm hmm.
Laurie: And so, you know, when I decided to go back to school, the grad school to get my, my therapy degree, you know, that obviously bound me to one place for a little while.
Well, I shouldn't say obviously the school I was going to was in person. It was not online. So it did. It bound me to a specific location. For that period of time. And then, you know, you have to get your licensure hours in and all of that,
Kym: I know.
Laurie: right? So it was like this whole season of my life that, although I was still, you know, traveling just on my own free time, you know, I was, I was bound to, to that particular location.
And so as I was coming to the end of, you know, okay, I'm completing my hours for licensure and all of that. It you know, it kind of hit me like, Oh, I'm a, I'm about to have the freedom to move beyond my physical space
Kym: Yes.
Laurie: I'm in. And for me, particularly, I was in I was in Philly, Philadelphia, and,
Kym: Yeah.
Laurie: cold, winter.
Which.
Kym: do it.
Laurie: Yeah, which is not for me. It's not for me. And one day, you know, I was speaking to a coworker who was also a therapist and, you know, I was just saying, man, winter is just so hard for me, like really emotionally, mentally, very hard for me. And it's just, it takes a toll on me. And he, he was like, Lori.
You know, you don't have to live here, right?
Kym: Wow.
Laurie: You know, it was like, so simple. It's like, of course, you know, but it was about hearing that in that moment, right?
Kym: Mm hmm.
Laurie: You have choice.
Kym: Yes.
Laurie: are coming to the end of like your responsibilities here and the reasons why you're here. And now you, like, you really can choose to be anywhere in the world. And it was just this moment of, of that, right?
Kym: I feel that so much. I remember the first time I figured that out. I was like, wait a second. What am I doing?
Laurie: Yes.
Kym: Yeah. Oh my
Laurie: And so that also coincided for me with at the time I was about to turn 45. And you know,
Kym: Mm-hmm
Laurie: I don't like to call it a midlife crisis. I think we need a better term for that, and I don't, and it was not a crisis for me, but it was that time of reflection, right, of saying, wow, okay, I'm turning 45.
You're kind of looking back at your journey and at the same time looking forward and saying, you know, what, what do I want this next season of my life to look like? Where can I thrive the most? And even thinking of myself as a therapist, you know, this is some tough work we do sometimes, you know, you think about the high rate of just burnout and all that thing.
Okay, I, I need to be my best self in order to serve, you know, the people and support the people. And part of that is, is environment.
Kym: Yeah. Absolutely.
Laurie: And so, you know, saying, okay, what is, what's an environment for me that can, that where I could thrive the most. And so just started the dreams. That's kind of where it started, right?
It's just kind of busting open the, the seams of possibility. And starting to dream about, well, what would that look like? And so that kind of started me in this process of, well, how would I do that? And, you know, okay, work overseas. And, you know, at that point, you know, I had been working for a nonprofit organization, providing therapy for women and children.
Experiencing homelessness, many of them coming out of domestic violence situations. And so that was not a population. I mean, I couldn't carry that. I couldn't carry that with me, right? I couldn't do that job, internationally. And so I kind of took a big leap where I knew that I wanted to move.
I knew that I wanted to have the flexibility and the position I was in was, was a time limited position for according to a grant that was, and the company offered me a next position.
Kym: Oh, perfect time to transition.
Laurie: Right. And I was like, Oh man, am I going to go for this uncertain thing over here? But it's something that I really want. For my life, but it's, it has so much uncertainty, so many questions,
Kym: Mm
Laurie: or am I going to stick with what is like safe? I know I'll have a paycheck of a certain amount, you know, every two weeks.
it was a bit of a scary moment. And but I remember as I thought through that. This thing came to my mind of just, you know, am I going to make a decision based on fear?
Kym: Mm, yes.
Laurie: because I realized that's what it was, right? It was
Kym: Mm hmm.
Laurie: of like, Oh my gosh, you know what? What? I mean, how do I know that I'll be able to sustain myself and, you know, all these unknowns over here.
And I was like, no, I don't, I don't want to make a decision based on fear.
Kym: Yeah.
Laurie: I, I turned down the offer. To
Kym: Oh my gosh. Wow.
Laurie: this thing of living and working overseas.
Kym: I love that so much. Yeah. I mean, that stuff creeps in all the time and I, I just try to always remind myself, it's like, I could literally always go back and have an office whenever I want to. I could always build a new caseload if I wanted to do that, if it didn't work out, you know, but I, I can so relate to that cause I went through the same thing.
It was like, Oh my gosh, how am I going to. What if I can't do it? What if it's not, what if it doesn't work? You know, what if, what if I don't like it? You know, I'll, what if I sell all my stuff and I have to buy it all again?
Laurie: Right. Yes.
Kym: Yeah. Oh my gosh. So, okay. So you had that crossroads, you made that decision and then what happened?
Laurie: and then, you know, it's, I'll tell you, it was not an easy journey. I did have some savings, right? And so that was part of what enabled me to say, okay, I can kind of take this risk a little bit because I have some savings put aside. But it definitely it didn't flow the way that I hoped or thought in the sense that.
You know, I, I think I was very idealistic in how I thought, Oh yeah, it'll be no big deal. Easy to find, you know, I'll just do this online thing. And, just, I think, idealistic, right? long story short, it took a lot longer than I realized to just kind of put things in place, right?
Because,
Kym: like a private practice, is that what you mean? Or just like the logistics of moving
Laurie: yeah, well, initially, well, initially, I was not thinking private practice. That was always in my mind, but like, in my mind, it was like, down the road, like, maybe a few years, you know, down the road, I'll
Kym: Huh. Yeah.
Laurie: thing. And in the meantime, I'll apply. For, you know, I thought, Oh, I'll just apply for positions I can do virtually, you know, so I'm putting in applications and nothing is materializing.
Right.
what I thought was going to be, Oh yeah, I'll just, you know, I'll, I'll get a job in a few months and be able to go. It definitely did not work out that way. it basically got to a place where I was like, you know what? I think in order to make this really work, I need to kind of fast track actually starting my own private practice.
Kym: Gotcha. Okay. Gotcha. Yeah. And I was just assuming he went that track, but not everybody does. I mean, that's such a good point. You know, not everybody does that. They try to look for an agency or even a traveling therapist agency position. Like there's all kinds of ways to do that. Yeah. I'm glad you said
Laurie: and, and, you know, and I did actually end up getting, I got hired by a former professor of mine with his private practice. But again, I had not worked for private practice before I had worked for a nonprofit organization. Our clients lived in the building. Right? As you know, your private practice is a whole different thing.
And so, as you know, it can, it can take a while to build up your, your client load.
Kym: Absolutely. Yep.
Laurie: So again, I thought, okay, great. I got hired with, you know, my former professor. I can do that work. And again, it was just such a slow trickle
Kym: Yeah.
Laurie: when, you know, at a point I was like, you know what? This alone is not going to sustain me.
I need to, I need to start my own private practice. And so I, I just, I fast tracked that, went in that direction. So really from the point where I was like, okay, this is a choice I can make. I can leave, I can go somewhere else. So the time that I was able to fully make that move was about nine months.
Kym: nine months, when you say to make the move, like what were the things that you had in place that made you feel like, okay, I got this. I can, I can go, I can start my journey that, you know, the way you envisioned your journey as, you know, living as a nomad, as a traveling therapist.
So what, what felt like it was enough to like, Send you on the way, you know?
Laurie: Yeah. Yeah. That's a great question. And I think so important because, you know, we're, we're all different as to our levels of, I think, comfortability, right? There are people that feel like, oh, I'll just, you know, I'll go and I'll figure out when I get there. You know what I mean? I'm like, cool. Go ahead.
Right. This sort of exploration process I had gone and spent about a month and a half in St. Lucia in the Caribbean and was just trying to like figure things out, you know, what am I doing? How am I doing this? Like, and I was reading this book by Brene Brown Daring Greatly. And yes, and I had this moment where I was like reading the book and I was like, here's the thing.
Like, I don't know if I am right now, like daring greatly or risking foolishly.
so trying to figure out that, that fine line is between those two and where you're not. You know, trying to be so, so, so safe that you just don't even do that daring greatly part,
Kym: Yeah.
Laurie: But also not trying, not being so like, oh, throw caution to the wind that it becomes a, a, a risking foolishly.
Yes.
Kym: you're like in serious debt or you know, living in unsafe places because you can't afford to. Yeah. I mean, it could really go downhill. Yeah. Mm-hmm
Laurie: And so I was really weighing that, you know, like, what does that look like, you know? And so I just, told myself like, all right, I, I do have to make, I kind of, you know, I, I, I looked at my budget, it was like, okay, how many clients do I need to comfortably say? Like, if I have this many clients per week,
Kym: Mm hmm.
Laurie: according to my expenses and all that, I will feel like comfortable to say, okay, I can go, right?
And so I just kind of, I wrote that down. I crunched numbers, you know, all of those things. And then you know, once I hit that, that space, you know, and that was between, you know, clients with this practice I was doing with my former professor, private, my private practice, you know, so combination. I was like, all right, you know, I feel, I feel like I can, you know, I can do this now.
And it's still going to be an element of that daring greatly. Because it was definitely right at like, okay, this amount of clients, you know what I mean?
Kym: I have
Laurie: was no,
Kym: this many.
Laurie: yes, like there was no room for like, Oh, if one or two of those clients drop out, to be honest, I, you know, it was like, there was still a risk element to it.
Kym: Yeah. Mm hmm. I
Laurie: But I felt comfortable enough and I think that's, you know, that's what's a, that's what was important for me. And so, yeah, at that point I went ahead and, you know, and, and throughout, I was, like I said, researching, like, okay, where do I want to make this move to looking at all the specifics.
to that country and, can I practice there? What does it look like to practice from another country? You know, you have to look at obviously all the legalities and all of that. It's very important you know, to do things the right way. So throughout all of that, like eight, nine months, I was, really spending all that time researching, connecting, you know, found you guys, you know, on book, and just trying to make sure that I was, making this move with as much knowledge as possible.
Kym: Mm hmm.
Laurie: Well,
Kym: I'd love to just talk about like where you ended up, where you're going. I know before we hit record, you said you're in Jamaica right now, which I think is so cool. I Love
Laurie: yes. Yeah.
Kym: I'm here in St. Lucia, so I'm wondering like, are you like Caribbean, Ecuador, all that stuff?
You know, like just would love to hear about your journey from there. Once you made the decision, you've got enough clients, you're ready to do this, did all the research, where did you go next?
Laurie: yes, yes. as I thought about, you know, where, where in the entire world do I wanna go, right?
Kym: Right. Yeah.
Laurie: When you realize, like, literally the whole world is there before you and I could choose. You know, anywhere in the world, really. So, you know, how do you even do that? Well, for me, it was a few elements, right?
I definitely knew I want to be in a tropical place. That is where I thrive. I want to be near water. It's a healing place for me, a restoring place for me. I had been, you know, kind of sidebar, but very much related to couple of my friends and I, you know, since. Years, years past, we've been talking about kind of dreams, you know, for our futures and Things that we would like to do, you know, thoughts about like, man, you know, wouldn't that be great to like buy land in the Caribbean and, build some different things that would be multi purpose and for myself about, you know, a place where I could run therapeutic retreats sometimes, and, you know, we're like down the road, we could retire there and all of that.
So as I was thinking about then now this question of, okay, here I am, make a move. It was like, well, first of all, why do we have to wait till retirement? To like launch out on dreams, Why not start now? At least start, at least make some moves, take some steps.
Kym: Yep.
Laurie: So it just kind of made sense. Like, because we had been talking about the Caribbean, both of these friends of mine are from the Caribbean.
It was like, well, okay, that makes sense. Like the Caribbean fits. Right. And so then it's like, well, where we're in the Caribbean. And so I was looking at a couple of factors, you know, looking at cost of living. Various islands, looking at where do I have connections? Connections are so important, I think, to have like a good transition.
Not that you have to, but it's always nice to have at least like connections of connections, you know,
Kym: I know somebody, at least I knows somebody that's here.
Laurie: right, exactly. Exactly. So kind of looking at those factors at first those things led to St. Louis show, but. You know, St. Lucia is farther away as far as from the U. S.
And because of that, flights are much more expensive thought about accessibility for my community of people. I'm an aunt to 13 nieces and nephews,
Kym: my gosh.
Laurie: You know,
Kym: fly 'em all down.
Laurie: well, one of, you know, one of my values. Is well, one, to be able to be that auntie that can say, yeah, you know, send, you know, send Elias down, you know, to me in the islands for two weeks, right?
Because I think part of, part of my journey is also trying to make travel accessible to some of our young people. When I think about my journey and how, how huge it's been in my life to be able to travel, right? So my nieces and nephews, as well as, you know, I've worked with, worked with young people for many years, 25 plus years, who are from you know, kind of some of the marginalized, more oppressed groups of people, and they don't have those, these type of opportunities.
Right. And so that's another, a little piece, a little, you know, of, of sort of my passion is like, well, I need to be accessible to be able to say, Hey, to one of those young people, you know, you know, I'm, let's, let's work this out where you could come. And, and visit me, spend some time with me, experience a different culture go from inner city where there's a lot going on to like nature.
And when we think about healing, you know, again, as, as therapists, right, look all the elements that contribute to the healing process.
Kym: Mm hmm.
Laurie: I think about some of those environmental things, all that to say is that nope, got to be in an island that's closer to the U S. And, and really, I have the most, most connections in Jamaica.
So I took a trip to Jamaica, I said, well, if it looks like Jamaica might be it. I should take a trip and see, because I had never been to Jamaica, and so, January of this year came to Jamaica with my friend who's from here and just fell in love. I just, and it was one of those things, Kim, I think, I think anybody who's traveled probably has experienced this, where each place has its own, like, It's atmosphere, it's vibe, however you want to say that, right?
And sometimes you can't even really explain why a place hits you in a certain way, right? And it's like, like, there are certain places that I'm like, I don't know why, but it just did not hit me. Right. I don't really care to ever go back there.
Kym: Yep.
Laurie: Right.
Kym: Yep.
Laurie: And there are other places, you know, when I, I lived in Uganda for a few years, Uganda was love at first sight for
Kym: Wow. Oh my
Laurie: And I've never experienced that before in a place. I, but it was literally like I arrived and I was just like, I could just feel it like
Kym: my gosh.
Laurie: soul, Jamaica was like that for me as well. It just resonated with me. Also Kingston reminds me very much of the city I grew up in. I grew up in Quito, Ecuador and so the mountains, the city and the valley It just really, really had that sense of home and comfort for me.
So yeah, after that trip, it was like, all right, that's it. That's the last confirmation I needed as far as location. And so I started looking towards moving to Jamaica.
Kym: Oh my gosh. So are you, are you a, like an expat, like a full expat and, and living as a citizen in Jamaica or,
Laurie: No, no, not, not yet. Not yet. So, in Jamaica specifically, so, at least U. S. citizens. Can be here for six months initially without, without requiring a visa or anything. And then you can get an extension for another six months. So basically you have, you have a year, you
Kym: That's cool. Yeah.
Laurie: things out, right?
So I was like, all right, cool. I have a year during this year, I am actively looking into what would that look like, right? To get the residency to ultimately I would love to actually work. As like maintain both working virtually online and, you know, do work with clients locally in Jamaica. So, you know, I'm still looking into all of that stuff, but but it's great that I'm able to be here, you know, pretty easily, you know, for this, at least for this period of time.
Kym: Mm hmm. Oh my gosh. That is awesome. So you've almost been there a year, right? I guess.
Laurie: no, no. I have only been here for a month and a half at this point.
Kym: oh, I don't know why I thought you said January. Okay. Gotcha.
Laurie: Oh yeah. Sorry. Yes. So I, I came in January to visit.
Kym: Gotcha. Okay. Oh,
Laurie: Fell in love
Kym: got some time.
Laurie: Yeah, fell in love with it. Went back to the US. And you know, immediately we started making plans to move here. Mm
Kym: That's amazing. Okay. So were plans like you, like, did you sell everything? Did you put stuff in storage? Did you keep a place?
Laurie: so backtracking a little bit. So I kind of have done this move in stages.
Kym: Okay.
Laurie: So from that point that I was like, you know what? I don't have to live in the cold north anymore. And it was, it was like, it was time to go. That season was over time to go, but I knew I, you know, I didn't have things in place yet to move overseas.
So, I had lived in Miami for a whole season of my life
Kym: nice.
Laurie: And so, I have. Very close friends who are like family to me there. And so I, so I actually closed down things in Philly, did put put my stuff in, in storage there. And then did like a, an interim move to Miami,
Kym: Nice.
Laurie: You know, thought, well, at least that like gets me closer.
It gets me to go environment.
Kym: Yeah.
Laurie: Yes. And so, that was like my little stepping stone move.
Kym: Cool. Yeah. That's, that's
Laurie: in, I was mostly in Miami then from the time after that, but Miami, well, I would say Miami was my base. I did travel, you know, a bit within that time as well kind of doing some exploration before I made this, this final move.
Yes,
Kym: story. Oh my gosh. You're going to have to come back when it's like visa expiration time and let us know what you decided.
Laurie: yes, yes,
Kym: we hit record, you said something I thought was just so interesting, and that was this idea of, you know, wanting to give back therapeutically, even to the environments that you're visiting and that you're in.
So I was wondering if we could talk about that some, like how you feel about that, what you think about that, and share some of that with, with the people listening. Yeah.
Laurie: Absolutely. Yeah, I really you know, I think in coming here, I even wrestled actually a little bit with the thought of like, okay, I'm going to come. I have, you know, work online that I do. But kind of, you know, how am I, how am I contributing to the actual place that I'm in? You know, yeah, it's great that I can just say like, Oh, well, I have my livelihood taken care of.
I mean, I could, you know, and, and, you know, but I just feel like if I am in a place in a country, Especially a little bit longer term,
Kym: Mm hmm.
Laurie: that, you know, I really want to be looking at, you know, how can I, how can I contribute to the space that I'm in? And so, you know, so part of my process definitely has been and continues to be, you know, a few things.
Finding out, you know, what, what is the environment here in Jamaica as far as mental health goes, you know, because we know a lot of, a lot of other countries that are not westernized, you know, therapy is a much newer concept.
Kym: Mm hmm.
Laurie: still has a lot of stigmas around it. But in, in the Caribbean, at least that's starting to shift a little bit.
So anyways, just, just kind of finding out, like, what are people's thoughts and ideas around
Kym: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Laurie: what and how would I, how would I be able to kind of contribute here
Kym: Mm hmm.
Laurie: both? I mean, in this space of time, I mean, even even on a volunteer basis to start with as, as I, you know, I don't have a work visa yet at this time.
You know, again, I'm trying to do things the correct way. Right? So, you know, at this point. You know, point in time, I would not be able to actually work in that, but for example, you know, just the other day you know, as I was looking at the news, it's, they were talking about a horrible, a horrible, you know, situation that happened.
I won't even go into because it could be very gruesome and triggering, but a situation in which a child was violently killed. And they were talking about how the child's older sister is struggling so much now,
Kym: yeah.
Laurie: Really the trauma of it for her. And I just, as I heard that story, it just, it touched my heart, you know, when I was reading about it on Twitter.
The news page on Instagram, and so I just like, I just put it out there. I was like, Hey, if anybody knows this girl personally you know, I'm a therapist and I would be glad to provide some therapy support to her you know, because it sounds like she even has struggled with suicidality after, you know, what happened to her sister.
And I just thought, man, I don't even know what's accessible to her as far as, you know, Therapeutic support. And so I was like, I'm here, I'm hearing this what can I do? You know, what can I do? And so. I haven't heard anything yet, but it was just like a moment of like, you know, I, I, if I'm going to be here, I need to also be contributing in, you know, to the, you know, the well being, you know, of this country.
And so I'm still exploring that, but I'm very much holding on to just that, that thought and that value that to me is important.
Kym: Yeah.
Laurie: space I'm in that I would not just be benefiting. I wouldn't just be benefiting from being here.
Kym: Yes,
Laurie: You know, I'd be giving back too, because this country is already giving me so much,
Kym: Mm hmm. Yep.
Laurie: Yeah, it's like, how can I, how can I give back?
Kym: I love that so much. I've had a couple episodes. There was one guy that's lived, he lives in Columbia and he decided to go through the process to get licensed in Columbia and be able to like, You know serve the community there It's just so interesting like people really wanted to do that And then the process of doing it and what that looks like in the different countries and there was another episode I think she was in I think she was in saint martin.
She was trying to do the same thing start a community counseling like office You know, for expats in that community, but also the locals, it's just so interesting to watch people try to build that in other countries, you know? So I've just, I'll be so curious to hear if you stay in Jamaica, like how you go through that process and what it looks like and just, just all of that.
It's just so interesting to me.
Laurie: Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. It'll be, it will be interesting. I mean, what I've found out so far about the process here in Jamaica is I would have to get 500 more licensure hours under, under a licensed Jamaican therapist.
Kym: Whoa, really?
Laurie: Yes.
Kym: That's incredible.
Laurie: So, and, and that's a newer thing, I think, again, as these, as it's kind of coming to light more and more like, okay, therapy is, is, is a thing that is important.
Apparently I'm not sure how recently, but pretty recently, they developed sort of a governing body around that. And they, you know, created these rules. And one of the things I love about when I was reading about it, that they said. Is that one of the reasons they require that is because while we may have the therapeutic skills, we don't know the culture where we are.
Kym: That makes so much sense.
Laurie: And so they were like, we want to make sure people aren't just coming in with their own cultural lens. Like, here I am, I'm a licensed therapist, I have the, you know, I have the things that you need, you know,
Kym: From America.
Laurie: totally lacking, you know, the understanding of the culture and all of that. That's also super crucial to how we develop, how we you know, develop and offer services in another culture.
And so, even while I was like, ugh. 500
Kym: Yeah.
Laurie: more licensure hours. I get it. Like, I understand and I can appreciate where they're coming from in, in requiring that. So that is something that I do plan to pursue at a certain
Kym: Oh my gosh. Well, I hope, definitely hope you'll come back and tell us how it goes.
Laurie: Yes.
Kym: That's that, that makes so much sense and it's fascinating and, and I love your energy and spirit to want to like dive back in for me. It's like, oh my God, the thought of like more like any kind of school or any, any supervision or anything is like so far out of where I am right now, but.
I get it. Like I respect it a lot that you would want to do that. I think it's amazing. And I'm trying to remember, did I read in your bio, like, like Uganda and all that when you were in Ecuador, did you do some work in those places or, or am I just making that up that you did some like
Laurie: I did, I did work not, I was not yet a therapist.
Kym: Oh, gotcha. Okay.
Laurie: So, you know, long before I became a therapist, I've always I've largely done nonprofit kind of community work. And so, had done that work that's taken various shapes and forms, right? Around the world whether and whether that was like longer stays in different places or shorter term, you know, stays But I've kind of done various things, you know, in Ecuador, in the Dominican Republic, in Uganda, in different cities in the U.
S. But really, you know, all of that really led into me becoming a therapist, right? Because the work I was doing, though, not as a therapist, was very much people coming to me with their traumas.
Kym: Yeah.
Laurie: And a lot of, you know, people experiencing the, the effects of living in poverty, living in places where there was high levels of violence racism, like all those various things that very much affect somebody's mental health.
And it was in doing that work that there was a point in time where it hit me like people are coming to me anyways.
Kym: Mm.
Laurie: And I am not prepared, like, yes, I can listen. Yes, I can empathize with you because that's just who I am.
Kym: Mm hmm.
Laurie: I need to be able to offer more than that. I need to be able to actually offer tools.
For healing and support. So that all of that journey prior to becoming a therapist is really what led me to pursue this, where I never thought I'd go back to school.
Kym: Yeah.
Laurie: And it was like, all right, got to go back
Kym: doing this.
Laurie: grad school. Because I you know, it was like, I don't envision myself doing other work.
You know, I'm always going to be working with people coming alongside them and supporting them in some way. On their on their journey and, and, you know, most of them, like I said, with, you know, significant amounts of trauma. And so, yeah, that's what, that's what led me to this
Kym: Oh, amazing. Oh my gosh. So in the places like Uganda and, and Ecuador and all that, did you, did you go there with a job in mind? Like I'm going to do this work or did you, were you there and you were like, gosh, this work calling me, I'm going to go do that. Just
Laurie: yes,
Kym: curious for listeners, you know, like if they want to get into that, like, is it something they could do?
And do you have any tips around that?
Laurie: Yeah, absolutely. So, Ecuador, I grew up there. So
Kym: Right.
Laurie: that was, you know, it was built in, you know, it's built in. And so really started, you know, serving as, as a teenager, you know, started just looking for ways to kind of, you know, serve and make a difference in my world space.
But beyond that. You know, some of it was just opportunities that just doors that opened up, you know, Uganda. So at the time I was living and working in Chicago. That's where I went for undergrad
Kym: Okay. Oh,
Laurie: And I knew I really had a heart for. Kids were orphaned, abused, neglected, and there was a conference happening that was just different organizations coming together that were doing that kind of work in the Chicago area.
So I went to the conference and the director of this organization in Uganda was there speaking about how they had had this children's center in Chicago. Uganda for the past 20 years, which was run and it was African Run, which I, I really liked, you know? And they had realized in the course of their journey that so many people, foreigners would have this like, you know, oh, I just have a heart for kids or whatever.
And they would just come over and with just only, only their passion,
Kym: Mm hmm.
Laurie: with no knowledge, no experience, and a lot of cases cause more damage. And so they said, you know what, we're going to start a training institute to train people to do this kind of work that we've been doing for 20 years. So we have lots of experience knowledge.
So a group of friends and I, we were like, let's go do it. So we skipped my own graduation
Kym: Oh my gosh
Laurie: went to Uganda.
Kym: amazing
Laurie: And I just. So I went for the training initially, loved it, loved the people, loved the organization. Came back to the U. S. and I was like, I don't want to be here.
Kym: Wow. Yeah
Laurie: No, this doesn't sit right with my spirit. And so I contacted the organization since I really liked so much the work they were doing and the way they were doing it, really in a way that was, you know, preserving the culture and honoring the culture.
As, as they were doing very holistic care and yeah, started working with them.
Kym: Amazing.
Laurie: Yeah, so it's, it's been, you know, different things like that along the way that, you know, I think a lot of it, like there are opportunities, there are opportunities all over the place. A lot of times it's just tapping into those opportunities and, and figuring out what works for you.
Right. Because, you know, that was not like. You know, paying much, you know, but it was like, we provide a house for you. Right. And food was very cheap there anyways, and I didn't need much to live. So that was okay for
Kym: Yeah. Yeah.
Laurie: I think of similarly, I lived in and worked with kids in the Dominican Republic for like three, four months.
Similar setup, right? It was like, we've provided a place for you to live. You have a little stipend that worked for me. I think there's, you know, I think quite a bit available in that sort of vein of things. It just depends on it. You know, if that works, especially financially.
Kym: Right. Yeah. That's the thing.
Laurie: Yes, because I think Kim, that is oftentimes people's big question, like, I want to travel. But financially, how do you do this?
Kym: Right.
Laurie: Right? I think there are many different ways that I know you touch on, you know, on that topic, you know, at different times and how to do that and all that, but, and it can look lots of different ways according to kind of, I think what you value and what works for you.
But, but, yeah, a lot of it for me has just been like opportunities that have opened up as well as me just. I think looking for those though.
Kym: was going to say you're, you're open to it, so probably you're attracted to that type of thing coming into you and running into opportunities around that. Yeah. That's amazing. I love that. Well, thank you so much for sharing with us today. What a great story. How do people find you if they want to talk to you or, or, you know, talk to you about your journey and learn more from you?
How do they find you?
Laurie: Yeah. So, people can definitely connect with me through my website, which is www. rootedrestoration. com. Restoration. I'm not going to spell it all
Kym: Yeah.
Laurie: Dot O R G.
Kym: Oh, nice.
Laurie: so yeah, there's a contact forum on there. You know, anyone who either wants to know more anyone, you know, even interested. And I also offer workshops of various kinds of things.
But for whatever reason anyone might want to connect. That's, that's really the best thing. Spot to kind of, yeah, to do that.
Kym: That's great. And you're on Instagram, I guess.
Laurie: Yes, I am. Yes. Same
Kym: What's your Instagram?
Laurie: Rooted yet needed restoration.
Kym: I love it. I'm going to go follow you right after this, too. Thank you. Thanks so much for being here. Is there anything else you want to add or say before we, we wrap up?
Laurie: Thank you, Kim. You know, such a pleasure to be here with you. And, you know, I think, you know, the main thing I just want to leave with people is just that it's, you know, dream, dream, don't be afraid to dream and to engage those dreams and to know that. It's possible, you know, it's possible to, to achieve those dreams.
Kym: Absolutely. And don't wait till you're retired.
Laurie: No, no, don't do it. Step
Kym: do it. You'll be too old.
Laurie: out now when you can enjoy it.
Kym: Oh, thank you so much. It was so, so great having you as a guest. I really appreciate it.
Laurie: Yes. Thank you, Kim.