For Laura Jackson, healing is more than a profession—it is a lifelong calling rooted in family, heritage, and compassion.
The Jamaican-American mental health professional, wellness educator, and founder of Paradigm Joy has spent more than two decades supporting individuals, organizations, and communities through stress, trauma, burnout, and personal transformation. Through an integrative approach that combines psychotherapy, coaching, mindfulness, retreats, yoga, and wellness education, she is helping people reconnect with themselves and build healthier, more fulfilling lives.
While her work reaches diverse communities, Jackson’s Jamaican upbringing and family history continue to shape her perspective on care, resilience, and collective wellbeing.
“The desire to reduce suffering and support healing is, I believe, one of the most powerful expressions of our shared humanity,” she said.
Through Paradigm Joy, Jackson works with caregivers, healthcare professionals, leaders, and individuals navigating mental health challenges, workplace stress, life transitions, and the effects of racism and other oppressive systems. She also partners with organizations to strengthen employee wellbeing, support leadership development, and create healthier workplace cultures.
Her philosophy is grounded in compassion—not only for others, but for ourselves.
“Standing up for yourself, setting boundaries, and saying no are all acts of self-compassion,” she explained.
That message has become increasingly important as conversations around mental health continue to evolve across Caribbean communities and the diaspora, where stigma has often prevented people from seeking support.
Jackson believes healing begins with creating spaces where people feel safe enough to be seen and understood.
“Healing often begins when people feel seen, understood, and safe,” she said.
The values that guide her work were first modeled by the women in her own family. Her mother, a Jamaican nurse and healthcare executive, dedicated her life to caring for others, while her grandmother worked tirelessly to ensure her daughter could pursue educational opportunities abroad.
Even further back, Jackson draws inspiration from her great-great-grandmother, Ann Maria Jackson, who escaped slavery in Delaware with her seven children in 1858 through the Underground Railroad in pursuit of freedom.
“I often think about the courage that decision required,” Jackson reflected. “Her determination to pursue freedom for herself and her children continues to inspire me.”
Today, that legacy of resilience informs her commitment to helping others heal from trauma while embracing lives rooted in dignity, connection, and joy.
Beyond her clinical work, Jackson encourages people to cultivate creativity and mindfulness as everyday practices. An avid photographer and traveler, she believes joy is not the absence of hardship but the willingness to remain open to beauty, gratitude, and hope.
When asked what she hopes people remember about Paradigm Joy, her answer reflects the philosophy that guides both her life and her work.
“I hope people remember that they are worthy of care, compassion, healing, and joy.”
As conversations around mental health continue to grow within Caribbean communities worldwide, Laura Jackson is helping lead the way—reminding others that healing is not something to be earned, but something every person deserves.