The Who Behind WISE
Therapy is about far more than techniques or credentials. At its heart, it's about feeling safe enough to be fully yourself with another person. Long before clients tell me they're feeling better, they often tell me something else:
"I've never felt this understood before."
That experience isn't accidental. It's the foundation of how I practice. I believe healing begins when you feel genuinely seen, remembered, and understood—not as a diagnosis or a collection of symptoms, but as a whole person with a unique story.
What Brought Me to This Work
People often ask how someone spends more than 20 years as a custom interiors designer and business owner before becoming a psychotherapist. Looking back, the transition feels surprisingly natural.
As the design industry changed, I found myself entering a season of reflection that many people experience in midlife—a growing awareness that our deepest fulfillment often comes not from what we create, but from the difference we make in the lives of others.
At the same time, something else had been quietly changing. While I still loved helping clients create beautiful homes, I realized I cared even more about the people living inside them. Our conversations naturally drifted beyond design into relationships, grief, parenting, life transitions, and the challenge of building lives that reflected their deepest values. Friends had long joked that I was everyone's unofficial therapist, and eventually I realized they might be onto something.
When my children were in or approaching college, I decided it was time. I enrolled in graduate school, gradually scaled back my business, and immersed myself in the study of psychology, trauma, relationships, and human healing. When I completed my Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling, I realized I hadn't left one career behind so much as discovered the work I had been growing toward all along.
The Heart of the Work
Being invited into another person's story is one of the greatest privileges of my life. The trust that grows within the therapeutic relationship is something I never take for granted. My hope is that you'll feel safe enough to be fully yourself—without needing to perform, hide parts of your story, or have everything figured out—and that you'll always be met with presence, curiosity, and genuine care.
WHO WE ARE
LARA EDDLEMAN, LPC, CCTP, CIMHP
Why I developed The WISE Collective
For clients, I wanted to create an environment that reflects the very work of psychotherapy. As we strive to help people feel more grounded, regulated, and at home within themselves, I believe the spaces we inhabit should quietly support that same experience. My hope is that from the moment someone walks through the door, both the therapeutic relationship and the physical environment begin communicating the same message: you're safe here.
At the same time, I wanted to create that same sense of belonging for therapists. Too often, private practice can feel surprisingly isolating. My hope is to cultivate a community of thoughtful, integrative clinicians who value curiosity over certainty, collaboration over competition, and lifelong learning alongside one another. I believe that when therapists feel connected, supported, and inspired, they're better able to offer exceptional care to the people who trust them with their stories.
That's the vision behind WISE—a place intentionally designed to help both clients and clinicians flourish.
INTEGRATIVE PSYCHO-THERAPIST
Growing Together
WISE Counseling Collective is still in its early chapters, and we're intentionally building something meant to last. Every clinician who joins helps shape the culture we're creating—not simply by sharing a workspace, but by contributing to a community rooted in curiosity, integrity, generosity, and exceptional care.
If you've been looking for a practice environment that feels as intentional as the care you provide, you may have found it. WISE was created for therapists who value meaningful relationships, lifelong learning, and integrative, whole-person care. It's more than a beautiful office—it's a place where thoughtful spaces, shared values, and genuine collaboration support both clinicians and the clients they serve.
If our philosophy resonates with the way you practice—or the way you hope to practice—we'd love to start a conversation.