Trauma-informed skills. Better mental health.
I provide trauma-informed training, mental health consulting, and addictions education for organizations.
Explore Training My ApproachHow I Can Help
Building capacity for navigating trauma, intensity, and challenging interpersonal situations.
Trauma-Informed Training
Interactive workshops that build practical skills for navigating intense emotions and complex situations with presence and empathy.
Trauma-Informed EssentialsMental Health Consulting
Strategic guidance for organizations building trauma-informed cultures that facilitate healthy relationships and support staff wellbeing.
Learn MoreGuides
In-depth resources exploring trauma, creativity, addictions recovery, wellbeing, and the foundations of meaningful interpersonal connection.
Guides“Ross has stretched and supported me far more than anyone else has in growing into my potential, and I know he has done the same for others. He gave us the opportunity to be, and to see each other, as fully human. What more could we ask for?”
“Ross is one of the most genuinely creative individuals I have had the pleasure of knowing. I would recommend Ross to any organization that wants an exceptional and memorable experience.”
“Ross is simultaneously brilliant and humble; forceful and gentle; present and silent. He has that rare talent for igniting the minds and hearts of every learner and colleague he encounters.”
“I have never had an educator influence me more. I have learned more in my time with Ross than in the rest of my education combined. I am a better student, wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend because of my opportunity to learn from Ross.”
“Ross was a catalyst in my development to reconnect with my passion for leadership. Through his example of consistency, compassion, and intelligence, I felt empowered to take control of my education. I feel inspired by his integrity and his intense love of education, cultural understanding, and knowledge.”
“Ross’ welcoming and caring nature helps to foster an environment whereby learners can engage with one another on a more intimate and understanding level. Ross encourages us to push boundaries, to play, to explore, to create, and to reflect.”
When Movement Maintains the Pattern
The Shadow Side of Physical Activity in Recovery
A runner circles the park at dawn, feet striking pavement with metronomic precision. Five miles, then seven, then ten. The endorphins rise, the mind quiets, and for those precious hours the static …
Addressing Mental Health in the Workplace
A Framework for Leaders
Over the past few years, I’ve found myself doing more training with people in leadership positions. Something has shifted. The requests aren’t just about implementing trauma-informed practices or s…
How Early Experiences Shape Who We Become
The Developmental Foundation of Mental Health and Addiction
Pick up a stone from any beach and turn it in your hand. Notice its shape, its smoothness, the way light catches the striations of mineral deposits laid down perhaps millions of years ago. This sto…
Running as Nervous System Medicine
Trauma Responses and the Power of Movement
Trauma is an experience that exceeds our ability to manage stress. It disrupts our emotional containment: we lose our capacity for self-regulation, become drawn into instinctive coping, and often r…
Belonging, Not Steps
What Actually Heals in Recovery
One of the most common conversations in my work is about the pathways of recovery that people choose. Clients in addiction treatment have often participated in a variety of programs, many of which …
Why We Resist What Works
Movement, Mental Health, and the Nervous System's Need for Real Challenge
The research is unequivocal, even monotonous in its consistency: physical activity outperforms pharmaceutical interventions for most mental health conditions. It rivals or exceeds the efficacy of p…
Essentials of Trauma-informed Practice
Considerations for recovery, healing, and well-being
Trauma is an experience that exceeds our ability to manage stress. Clinically, it disrupts containment: we lose our capacity for self-regulation, become drawn into instinctive coping, and often rem…
Working with Grief, Trauma, and Related Challenges
Museums Offer Much Potential for Healing Work — But Safety Must be a Primary Concern
Adapted from Museum Objects, Health and Healing , by Brenda Cowan, Ross Laird, and Jason McKeown. New and powerful museum exhibition trends include a greater focus on emotional engagemen…
Beyond the Alphabet Soup
Trauma Responses, Uncertainty, and the Limits of Models
The Parade of New Models In recent years, trauma terminology has proliferated at an extraordinary rate. What began as the familiar fight-or-flight response has expanded to include freeze, fawn, fl…