Karen Lawson

Karen Lawson, MD, ABIHM, NBC-HWC, is the Director of Integrative Health Coaching and teaching faculty at the University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing, and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health. She is a physician, board-certified in both Family Medicine and Holistic Medicine. She is the Past-President of the American Holistic Medical Association and a founding Diplomat of the American Board of Holistic Medicine. Karen holds undergraduate degrees from Michigan State University in Biochemistry and Physiology and completed her medical training at the University of Michigan, and Family Medicine residency at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Subsequent trainings have included mind-body techniques (e.g. MBSR), yoga, dance/movement therapies, nutrition, homeopathy, and a 20-year study of shamanic practices. In her current position, Dr. Lawson is active in undergraduate and graduate medical education, leading the areas of Integrative Medicine, Health Coaching, and Well-Being. She founded and directs the MA degree program in Integrative Health and Wellbeing Coaching. Karen represents UMN in the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health, serving on the Education and Steering Committees (imconsortium.org ). She also represents the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing on the advisory board of the Pillsbury House Integrative Healthcare Clinic. Karen is a co-founder and executive leader of the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching which is working to establish national standards in that field.