About Lou
Therapist. Speaker. Teacher.
Hi, I'm Lou
I'm a spiritually focused coach (USA) and psychotherapist (UK). My past is rich and complex, shaped by living in many different countries and diverse cultures. I deeply appreciate the many ways we carry our histories to become who we are, as well as the unique ways the cultures we are raised in shape us. I am also neurodiverse, non-binary, a speaker and author, but none of us can be summed up by a handful of labels, experiences or accreditations.
What I want you to know most about me is how passionate I am to help people learn about the energy tools that changed the trajectory of my life: calming emotional distress and rediscovering a sense of agency I once thought was lost.
I found that psychotherapy and counselling did not bring me the same relief from overwhelming emotions and numbness that energy practices did. That is why I trained in them and brought them into my therapy practice.
How I work
Embody Freedom is an approach grounded in energy psychology and embodiment. It honours the ways patterns live in the body and the wisdom of how you already listen to and relate to yourself. The belief at its heart is simple: you need to heal in your own way. Together we find the approach that fits you, using tools such as EFT tapping, kinesiology, deep listening and energy practices to help unwind old patterns and make space for who you are now. When it fits, we also include ancestral work.
People of all ethnicities, sexualities, genders and abilities are warmly welcomed here.
Training and qualifications
Lou is a Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, MBACP (Accred), registration number 20745 (check the BACP register). The register lists Lou as Louanne Lachman, a name Lou doesn't otherwise use. Lou is accredited by, and a member of, the EFT and Matrix Reimprinting Academy, and is also a member of the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP) and the Energy Medicine Professional Association. Lou has over 30 years of experience in counselling and psychotherapy, working with people in hospitals, doctors' surgeries, agencies, prisons and private practice, and has also trained and practised as an addiction counsellor.
In Bristol, Lou worked for nine years (2004 to 2013) as a shared care worker at Bristol Drugs Project, sharing the care of people who use drugs with their GPs, including prescribing and recovery care plans. In Eugene, Lou spent two years as a counsellor at Addiction Counselling Education Services (ACES), working with clients who had been in prison, and counselled men and women in drug treatment through the local Community Corrections programmes. Lou has run EFT tapping training for SARSAS (Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support) in 2018 and for Cotswold Counselling Service in 2021.
Lou is a co-author of Tap Into Your Best Life (2026), edited by Caryl Westmore, with contributions from Professor Peta Stapleton and Brad Yates and a foreword by Karl Dawson.
| Training | Where | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Core Process Psychotherapy (UKCP), professional clinical training | Karuna Institute, Devon | 1993 |
| Guided Self Healing, energy therapies | Guided Self Healing | 1999 to 2000 |
| Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (no longer held) | Oregon | 2002 |
| BSc Psychology | University of Oregon | 2004 |
| EFT accreditation | Association for Meridian Therapies | 2009 |
| Counselling supervision training | Palmoasis (now Oasis-talk) | 2012 |
| EFT levels 1, 2 and 3 | EFT and Matrix Reimprinting Academy | 2013 to 2015 |
| EFT trainer's training | EFT and Matrix Reimprinting Academy | 2016 |
| Facilitation for Leaders | Process Work UK | 2018 |
| Ancestral Lineage (ancestral healing, online) | Ancestral Medicine Inc | 2025 |
I currently live on the lands of the Kalapuya, Warm Springs, Paiute and Wasco peoples, among others, in what is now known as Oregon, and work online with people in the UK and the US.
Outside the work
For me, what I love is rowing, being outdoors and creating. That is what I wish for you too: to enjoy the things you love without overwhelm, fear and resistance.