Safety Within
Recovery from Traumatic Stress, Anxiety and Depression
519-500-4268
Mary Luard MSW RSW RP
Somatic-Based Trauma Therapies
Certified EFT Therapist (Couples/Families)
Mary works almost exclusively in the area of Trauma Recovery (using the new approaches based on current knowledge of neurobiology) and Attachment Relationships.
She started working with mothers in 1975 as a new mother myself, first training in the role of counsellor through La Leche League International with mothers and nursing babies. This evolved naturally into midwifery training and practice between 1978-2002, attending about 1000 births.
In the course of shifting focus while preserving her best use of self, experience and skills, she attended teacher training at Western University 2002-2003 in secondary school English and Music. She went straight on to be accepted to study for a Master’s degree at WLU and has worked full time in mental health with Individuals, Couples and Families since 2005.
Mary worked part-time on Family Health Teams (2005-2017), an interdisciplinary setting providing therapy to clients across the age spectrum, working with anxiety, depression, grief and loss, parenting issues, trauma, domestic abuse and addictions. She lead the first Hold Me Tight workshops on a Family Health Team in Ontario starting in the spring of 2017. Her private practice is primarily trauma healing with individuals and healing disconnected/distressed relationships from an EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy) model. She lead the first Hold Me Tight/Let Me Go workshop for parents and teens in March, 2017. Mary reads widely in her field and attends regular professional development workshops and conferences. She began to study Somatic Experiencing® treatment methods for resolution of symptoms of trauma in 2015 and is currently moving toward completion of the Advanced Level training.
Mary works with individuals affected by traumatic experiences with a view to restoring connection to self and others. Working with couples and families is of special interest. She learned early the value of a solid and loving relationship as the foundation of a family
and a protective feature in development of resiliency and overall well-being. Conversely, a distressed relationship contributes to poor mental, emotional and physical health.
The website outlining Mary's EFT Couple and Family work is www.freshbeginningsforcouples.net.
Mary raised five children and lost one adult child in a sudden tragic death. She has two adult step-children and three small grandchildren. She has worked in several countries abroad on medical teams (Burkina Faso and Ghana, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Haiti) and as a teacher (Tanzania) of English and Music and providing HIV awareness workshops to secondary school students. In spring of 2015 she travelled to Hanoi, Vietnam where she introduced EFT and provided mental health trainings to professionals. She travelled to Uganda in spring, 2018 to work with victims of war trauma and introduced basic EFT to trainees of the Centre for Victims of Torture. During Mary's journey she studied at U of Waterloo for an Hons. B.A. in English literature (1972) and at WLU for an Hons. B. Music degree in Voice (piano second study – 1996) as well as a B. Ed. in English and Music (Western). She is also an active musician (voice, piano and flute), seamstress and avid reader.