COMPANY VALUES
Welcome! At Heal and Hope Nutrition, we are constantly learning and growing. We’d like to share our values with you:
Sustainable Well-Being: You are at the center of your care team! We strive to provide realistic, intentional, and to-the-point support in your journey while always staying helpful and hopeful.
Body Autonomy: Your body is the expert! We mean it. When hunger cues disappear and body trust is completely out the window, we strive to provide you with expert nutrition rehabilitation support while ultimately leading you back to developing trust with your body again.
Commitment to learning and unlearning: We recognize that there are powerful systems at play that get in the way of a positive relationship with food and your body. These include white supremacy, racism, patriarchy and many other systems of oppression. As the owner of this business (Lauresa), I recognize that being white, straight sized, cis gendered, financially stable, and college educated (and probably more) gives me privileges that I didn’t earn and leaves me blind to the challenges that others without those privileges face.
Receive and provide feedback with grace and gratitude: We strive to maintain accountable communication. We are dedicated to continued study of anti-racism and anti-weight stigma. We are committed to truly listening to the personal experiences of clients. This effort is sincere, though sure to be flawed. We are committed to receiving feedback and correction.
Reject the hustle. We serve our clients best when we aren’t on the verge of burnout on a regular basis. We practice saying no and allowing others to say no. Our personal well being is our superpower. If we are not well, we cannot provide excellent care. We have permission to reassess boundaries, work load, and roles on a regular basis. We commit to meeting our own personal needs on a daily basis.
Celebrate our progress. The gray is okay. We celebrate along the way because this moment is where we want to learn to be.
This statement will be regularly updated as we continue to learn and unlearn.
Meet the Team
Lauresa Larson RDN, LD
Owner and Founder (In Person and Virtual Sessions)
Working with Lauresa through nutrition therapy, clients leave feeling understood, loveable and like they *can* do this. Trained in nutrition as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Lauresa has since become a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, and is working toward becoming a Certified Eating Disorders Registered Dietitian. She is passionate about helping clients work out how to best take care of themselves while letting go of stressing about food and their bodies.
Recently she has created a group practice, bringing on and mentoring wonderful clinicians to help meet the need for weight inclusive nutrition therapy in NWA. She is learning every day how to run a business, work with and lean on an amazing team, and make room for humans from marginalized groups to live and breath freely in this world. Lauresa loves the magic of working with groups when the opportunity arises. Lauresa is licensed to provide nutrition counseling for those living in Missouri, Arkansas and Utah.
When Lauresa isn’t working as part of your team, you will probably find her learning something new or with her favorite people including her husband and three young kids, enjoying delicious food or on a nature walk.
FUN FACT: Lauresa is a recovering plant killer turned plant lover, LOVES decluttering and has a ready supply of “grandma phrases” and embarrassing dance moves.
Personable, empathic, insightful and encouraging
Lauresa has that mix of traits that make you feel understood, loveable, and that you can do this. Her workshops provide a great space for exploring and learning more about the ways you tick when it comes to food and eating. I gained more ground in a few weeks with her than I had in years of trying to figure things out on my own. I still have a lot of work and learning to do, but now I have hope that what I’m looking for is actually achievable. Thank you Lauresa!
—Katherine
Lauresa helped me so much to understand and accept myself on a physical and emotional level. She balances research with humanness and you can tell she both knows what she’s talking about and genuinely cares for her clients. If you’re looking for a dietitian who rejects the bullying, heavy handed, black-and-white approach that too many medical professionals use, she’s the one.
—Sophie
Sarah Durand MS, RDN, LD
Associate Dietitian (Virtual Sessions Only)
Sarah Durand, RDN is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist and loves helping clients heal from the inside out with food & lifestyle changes. She is an outside-of-the-box thinker with 6 years experience specializing in women’s health, functional nutrition, gastrointestinal disorders, and building healthy relationships with food. Sarah believes in the importance of keeping an open and honest dialogue so that we may work together to set attainable goals to put you on the right path to healing.
Sarah obtained her degree in Dietetics and Psychology from the University of Rhode Island, completing a 1200 hour dietetic internship and passing a national examination administered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) to obtain her Registered Dietitian credentials. She is licensed to practice dietetics in both RI & AR. She is very passionate about furthering her knowledge in nutrition from a functional standpoint as well as in Eating Disorders and Intuitive Eating. Sarah currently resides in Rhode Island and sees Arkansas clients virtually.
In Sarah's free time you can find her getting active outside exploring new areas or lounging by the pool with a good book.
FUN FACT: Sarah is a big Harry Styles fan, has been to 2 concerts in the past year and fan girls about him more than she would like to admit LOL
Praise for Sarah
"I know that we still have work to do together, but I just want to thank you for keeping me on track. Not only are you helping me learn how to eat and enjoy food, but also to enjoy life again. Thank you!"
— Jayna
Jennifer Meyers MS, RDN, LD
Associate Dietitian (In person and Virtual Sessions)
Jennifer is a Registered Dietitian / Nutritionist with over 20 years of experience. She understands the struggles & anxiety around food that eating can bring. Her specialty is guiding adolescents/young adults and their families through the recovery process with an eating disorder. The majority of her clients have co-occurring disorders and she works side by side with a client’s therapist. Jennifer believes in empowering clients to relearn their body’s natural hunger and fullness cues.
Jennifer uses her education and experience to provide a positive, warm space for clients to heal from their eating struggles. Jennifer practices a non-diet and weight inclusive approach to nutrition. Her goal is to help clients develop healthier relationships with food and their bodies. “I look forward to helping you each step of the way.”
When Jennifer is not helping others find their freedom with food, you can find her painting, walking, enjoying yoga, and always loving on her two doodles, Barley & Cooper.
FUN FACT: Jennifer loves the water; it’s her “happy place”. She used to scuba dive quite often and has been diving with sharks! Now, she just watches them on “Shark Week”.
Rebuild a better relationship
I have worked on intuitive eating with Jennifer this year. She has helped me to learn to listen to my body and rebuild a better relationship with food, after years of dieting and shame.
– J.B.
Put me at ease
Jennifer put me at ease during my first session. Making me less anxious to discuss my disordered relationship with food and poor body image, that I have struggled with for years. She is encouraging and gave me the tools to be accountable.
-K.H.
Sara Yupcavage
Office Manager (Virtual Only Support)
Sara is our office manager specializing in client support and backend management. Since she focuses on the day to day tasks, the clinicians are able to truly focus on their passion - their clients! With over 10 years of providing high level support in both corporate and non-profit organizations, Sara brings warmth, compassion and professionalism to the practice. A couple of years ago, she followed her heart and transitioned to supporting small business owners and quickly realized the impact she was making with her clients and their business. Sara loves to streamline processes, make the complicated seem easy and keep tasks and projects moving forward. At Heal and Hope Nutrition Sara supports the office, clinicians and clients with insurance and billing as well as keeping everything running smoothly.
Sara and her significant other recently moved to NWA to enjoy the great outdoors and simpler life. She can be found running, hiking and biking up any of the amazing trails. She also enjoys connecting with friends and neighbors over coffee and tea.
Fun fact: Sara is a true follower of her heart. She moved 2500 miles from the west to the east coast because of a the feeling she had when visiting Savannah, GA for a friend’s wedding. No plan, just went with the feeling. Sara lived there for a handful of years, met her significant other in Savannah which ultimately led her to becoming a small business owner and moving to the NWA region.
Offices in Rogers, Arkansas
We love our office space conveniently located within Village on the Creeks. Lauresa and Jennifer have individual offices in the suite and see people here in person as well as virtually. We also have a few mental health therapists that sublease offices in our suite. We love sharing the space with them. Come visit us!
Highly Recommend!
Refreshing take on food, dieting, and understanding how diet culture impacts individuals of all ages. It was great to connect with other women and hear their perspectives and experiences while Lauresa guided the discussion in a meaningful way. Lauresa is both professional and compassionate, and I would highly recommend seeking out her knowledge about self-care and making positive lifestyle changes.
— Christy Pierce, Rewild the Child NWA
