Meet Laurel Myers Hurst

From the music classroom to the psychiatric clinic

I grew up an Appalachian girl, raised on the land, and I learned early that people do better when they work, sing, and move together. That conviction led me into ethnomusicology, the study of music as human culture. For nearly two decades I taught university music and diversity courses, researched the philosophical foundations of groove-based music, and led drumming circles for people of every age and ability.

I watched the same thing happen in circle after circle. People arrived tense and guarded, and within minutes of playing together their breathing slowed, their faces softened, and they started talking to one another. I became so convinced of the therapeutic power of drumming together that I made a mid-career shift into nursing so I could bring it into clinical care.

• Ethnomusicologist and music professor. I spent nearly two decades in teaching, research, and community drumming, with grant support from the GRAMMY Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council.
• The Ohio State University. I earned my nursing degree and trained as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.
• Albert Schweitzer Fellow. I was named a Fellow for healthcare innovation among underserved populations and brought group drumming to patients in The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s addiction recovery programs.
• Integrative Psychiatry Institute. I earned certification as a Certified Integrative Psychiatry Practitioner (CIPP) and added inflammation, nutrition, and genomic assessment to my clinical work.
• Substance use treatment. I pioneered Shared Medical Appointments and groove-based therapy in Ohio substance use treatment centers, bringing connection and neuroplasticity into everyday psychiatric care.
• Ohio Integrative Psychiatry. I founded OIP in Twinsburg to offer the depth of assessment and care that a fifteen-minute medication check cannot provide.

I know what it costs to go unheard

For nearly fifteen years I lived with pain so severe that standing, sitting, and lying down all hurt. I asked doctor after doctor for answers and began to fear the problem might be “in my head.” In 2007 an orthopedic surgeon finally ordered a simple x-ray and found that my pelvis had been broken in two places since 1993. Surgery repaired the bones, but my nervous system was exhausted, and I still had depression and other long-standing health problems to address one by one.

That experience taught me two things. First, suffering that goes unexplained erodes a person’s confidence, relationships, and hope. Second, lasting improvement usually comes from looking deeper and treating the whole system rather than one symptom at a time.

Most psychiatric care today stops at a prescription. I built Ohio Integrative Psychiatry as a private-pay practice so that I could take the time to understand each patient fully, begin with a comprehensive assessment, and design care around what that person’s brain and body actually need.

How Laurel practices

• Every patient begins with a comprehensive assessment over three to four visits, because an accurate diagnosis is the foundation for everything that follows.
• Medication is prescribed when it helps, and the goal for patients already taking medication is optimization rather than disruption.
• OIP does not prescribe controlled substances for ADHD, anxiety, or sleep, except when helping a patient taper off them.
• GROOVE SESSIONS® use group drumming and bilateral movement to regulate the nervous system and build connection.
• Primitive reflex integration addresses the early movement patterns that can keep the nervous system locked in fight-or-flight.
• Family Systems Trauma Therapy, in which Laurel holds advanced training, supports patients and families working through relational pain.
• Group medical visits combine individual psychiatric care with the support of a small community of peers.
• Care is available in Twinsburg and by telehealth anywhere in Ohio for patients age 12 and older.

Training, service, and published work

A life shaped by family and the outdoors

Laurel and her husband, David, have been married for more than thirty-six years and together raised five children, who are now adults with families of their own. The two also co-facilitate a marriage coaching practice and have written a book on marriage together. Laurel does her best thinking in the hot tub, and her favorite place to rest is a campsite in the forest.

Follow her work

Start with a conversation

A free 15-minute video preconsultation is the first step. It gives you and Laurel a chance to decide together whether OIP’s approach is the right fit for you or your family.

Ohio Integrative Psychiatry · 9777 Ravenna Rd, Ste 102, Twinsburg, OH 44087 · 330-227-8333
If you are in crisis, call 911 or call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day.