Speaker Spotlight: Lauren Mackler

by Abby Hueber

Lauren Mackler is a world-renowned psychotherapist with a passion to not just change the lives of others but to reclaim those lives. Lauren is the creator of a groundbreaking psychotherapeutic coaching method called Illumineering, which she developed to help clients actively become their most whole selves. Each person takes an individual journey to mental wellness, achieving success once a person finds an “alignment with your authentic self” to live fully and without self-doubt. Lauren’s work reflects her own journey and a journey we are all familiar with, finding the courage to make meaningful choices, to be in the present moment and to Live Boldly.

Attend Lauren Mackler’s session – Live Boldly: Becoming Who You Were Born to Be – at Be Healthy Boston, Saturday, January 28th, 10:45 – 11:45 am.

How do you define “wellness”?
I define it as living in alignment with your authentic self. Living life based on fear, others’ expectations, or pain produces mental and emotional imbalance. Not only does this deplete our precious life energy, but over time it can lead to physical problems and even life-threatening illness.

I’m passionate about helping people reclaim and liberate their potential so they’re free to “live boldly”—to become the person they were born to be.

The work you do with individuals is called Illumineering. What is it and how does it compare with other kinds of therapy and coaching?
Illumineering is a psychotherapeutic coaching method I developed to help people free themselves from self-defeating patterns, liberate their potential, and create the personal and professional lives to which they aspire. It differs significantly from traditional psychotherapy and other types of coaching. Psychotherapy typically involves using talk-therapy to help people process feelings and cognitive-behavioral approaches to help them think and behave differently. Coaching is more focused on goals and the action steps to achieve them. I intuitively integrated both psychotherapy and coaching in my work, which became the Illumineering method.

What do you do day-to-day to stay focused on you and to maintain a feeling of control?
I’m a fanatic list-maker. My life is so busy that if I didn’t maintain a good tracking system, I’d be overwhelmed! I’m lucky that I’m naturally pretty organized and I love a sense of order in my home and work environment.

What do you hope is the take home message from your speaking experience at Be Healthy Boston 2012?
That life is fleeting so it’s important to live it as fully and joyfully as you can. Life is fundamentally about making choices—choosing to live with an internal junkyard of anger, fear, or regret or choosing to live a life of meaning, health, and joy.

Do you have a motto or a philosophy you live/work by?
My company tag line is Live Boldly, which embodies my own journey and the essence of my work. When we’re born, we are whole human beings with tremendous potential. We respond to our life conditioning by adopting habitual thought and behavior patterns, many of which erode our innate wholeness. We carry these patterns into adulthood, and they shape our feelings about ourselves, our relationships, and our personal and professional lives. I’m passionate about helping people reclaim and liberate their potential so they’re free to “live boldly”—to become the person they were born to be.