Laura Turner-Essel

Laura Turner-Essel holds a PhD in Counseling Psychology and works at the intersections of mental health, racial justice, and community education. She is adjunct faculty in the Department of Transformative Social Change at Saybrook, where she teaches Ecological Psychology and Community Organizing for Health & Well-being.

She also serves as Program Manager in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, where she is engaged in ethics research, co-leads workshops for The Belonging Project, and manages the Clinical Neuroscience Immersion Experience (CNI-X).

In her previous role as Director of Community Life at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (University of California Santa Cruz), she designed and facilitated workshops in conflict resolution, communication skills, and food access issues with farmers-in-training.

Laura regularly leads mindfulness programs, restorative circles and support groups for members of marginalized communities engaged in social justice and equity-focused work.