About My Practice

As an Integrative Health Coach, I recognize that you, the client, are the expert in your own life. My aim is to create a partnership with you where we can explore your own personal vision, values, goals, strengths, and life experiences to ensure that you are set up for success as you work toward what you want to achieve.  We start by broadly exploring your vision for your best state of health and wellness, as well as your current state, and then focus in on your specific goals. 

My coaching process is very client-driven in terms of what the goals might consist of and how they are accomplished. Clients have come to my practice with a wide variety of aspirations, from adopting a regular exercise routine or healthier dietary habits, to implementing mindful awareness practices or reinforcing guidance from their health care providers.  I also enjoy coaching creative individuals in need of an extra boost in executing on their ideas and projects.  Rather than giving specific directions, we’ll explore together what you want to do, why, and how, based on what you know about yourself and your life.  We’ll then develop plans for incorporating the changes you are seeking in ways that align with those preferences. 

It typically takes 3-6 months to make substantial progress toward new habits and maintain change, and so throughout that timeframe we’ll meet on a regular basis to check in on progress, learn from your experiences, refine approaches based on the learnings, and develop new plans to keep things moving forward.  As your coach, I am there to facilitate this process of discovery and planning for you and to help support you and hold you accountable as you take the steps to incorporate changes that will be both meaningful and sustainable. 

I look forward to collaborating with you as we go on the journey to meeting your personal goals and achieving a new level of health, wellness, and insight together!

Bio Sketch

Laura DeFeo is a health coach & community health volunteer interested in chronic disease prevention, motivation, behavior change, & working with individuals & communities who are seeking to build sustainable healthy habits that work for them. At a young age, Laura became interested in distance swimming & running, and as a result was later drawn to studying science, health, nutrition, exercise, & the psychological aspects of motivation, habits, & endurance. 

Prior to founding her coaching practice, Laura earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry at Yale University & spent 10 years working at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine (NASEM) in Washington, D.C., which provided a broad view of science, health, & environmental policy and practice.  At NASEM, Laura held several leadership roles in the science policy arm of the organization & also served as the Co-Director of NASEM’s Transformation Project Management Office, where she motivated, designed, & managed change & continuous learning efforts across the operations & programs of the institution.

From 2011-2019, she also volunteered as a co-coordinator for a program that assisted local DC residents with their searches for employment at the Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV).  This volunteer program emphasized the power of communities working together to make a positive difference & planted the seed of a possible career change in the future. 

In 2021, Laura completed Duke Health’s Professional Health Coach Training program & shortly thereafter established Illumine & Align Integrative Health Coaching, LLC.  In 2021 she also became a Certified Lifestyle Coach for the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP).  She is currently a contractor with Frederick Health, the local non-profit health care system in Frederick County, where she serves as Lead DPP Coach & Co-Coordinator of Frederick Health’s SHARE Food Network host-site.  She also serves as Co-Lead of the Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Subcommittee organized by the Coalition for a Healthier Frederick County in response to the 2022 Frederick County Community Health Needs Assessment.  She & her husband are Co-Owners of DeFeo Family Farm in Middletown, MD, & they are always looking for opportunities to share their harvest in support of community health efforts!

In her free time Laura enjoys volunteering; walking & hiking; painting, sewing, & learning new creative skills; designing gifts for friends & family; tending to farm chores; reading; taking classes; & listening to music & podcasts.

Education & Training

Diabetes Self-Management Community Peer Leader Training, Maryland Living Well Center of Excellence (2023)

Certification in Lifestyle Coaching for the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program (2021)

Integrative Health & Well-being Coach Professional Training, Duke Health & Well-being (2020)

Certificate in Foundations of Positive Psychology, University of Pennsylvania via Coursera (2020)

                Applications & Interventions; Character & Grit; Research Methods; Resilience Skills

Ph.D. in Chemistry, Yale University (2010)

B.S. in Chemistry with a Minor in Mathematics, Summa Cum Laude, Duquesne University (2004)