Dr. Laura Tanzini, DrPH, LMFT, is the founder and CEO of Kinder in the Keys, a women’s residential mental health treatment center in Key Largo, Florida. She holds a Doctor of Public Health with a specialty in Lifestyle Medicine and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Florida and California. Dr. Tanzini’s professional work has focused on women’s mental health, trauma, PTSD, anxiety, panic disorder, and the long-term effects of adverse life experiences.
Her background combines clinical practice, public health, research, higher education, and residential mental health treatment. Dr. Tanzini is also a published researcher whose peer-reviewed work examined childhood sexual abuse, forgiveness, and adult life satisfaction in a study of more than 5,500 adults.
Clinical & Professional Background
Dr. Tanzini’s professional background spans anatomical pathology, clinical mental health practice, public health, residential treatment, higher education, professional training, and work with military populations. Before entering the mental health field, she spent approximately 11 years working as a Pathologists’ Assistant at City of Hope, gaining extensive experience within a medical and scientific environment.
After transitioning into behavioral health, Dr. Tanzini worked in private practice as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Her clinical experience has included working with trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and panic disorders, depression, and the long-term effects of childhood and adult adversity.
Dr. Tanzini also worked with military service members, including assessing returning deployed personnel for PTSD and suicide risk. While working in Germany, she was recognized for her service with a military challenge coin presented by the Commander of U.S. European Command (EUCOM).
Her professional experience also includes developing and facilitating intensive clinical workshops focused on trauma recovery. She also provided trauma-recovery work for individuals with eating disorders, addressing underlying trauma rather than treating the eating disorder itself. Her workshops incorporated experiential therapeutic approaches designed to help participants move beyond simply discussing symptoms and actively engage with emotions, behavioral patterns, relationships, and unresolved experiences.
Dr. Tanzini has also taught at both the master’s and doctoral levels. Her academic experience included graduate-level instruction and doctoral dissertation advisement, allowing her to contribute to the education, research development, and professional training of future clinicians and doctoral-level professionals.
Her clinical perspective is further informed by her Doctor of Public Health training with a specialty in Lifestyle Medicine. This background contributes to an approach that considers mental health within the broader context of emotional well-being, relationships, patterns of thinking, physical health, daily habits, environment, and the experiences that shape a woman’s life.
Dr. Tanzini has particular experience in the treatment of anxiety and panic disorder. Her clinical framework addresses three interconnected areas: processing unresolved emotions and experiences, changing anxious and catastrophic patterns of thinking, and helping women understand what anxiety is and what it is not. Rather than relying on a single treatment modality, she believes meaningful recovery requires understanding and addressing the multiple factors that can maintain psychological distress.
Education, Licensure & Professional Credentials
Dr. Tanzini’s educational background spans biological sciences, marriage and family therapy, public health, and lifestyle medicine, providing a multidisciplinary foundation for her work in mental health and residential treatment.
Education
- Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) — Specialty in Lifestyle Medicine
- Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy
- Bachelor’s Degree in Biology — Emphasis in Human Biology
Current Professional Licensure
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Florida
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), California
Previous Professional Credentials
Earlier in her career, Dr. Tanzini earned additional professional credentials through the American Psychotherapy Association, including:
- Board Certified PTSD Clinician
- Board Certified Professional Counselor
- Fellow, American Psychotherapy Association
These credentials are included as part of Dr. Tanzini’s professional history. The American Psychotherapy Association subsequently suspended operations, and these certifications are not represented as current credentials.
Research & Publications
Dr. Tanzini’s academic research has consistently reflected an interest in women’s experiences, trauma, recovery, and the factors that influence psychological well-being across the lifespan.
Her master’s thesis research resulted in the publication of the abstract “Women as Victims” in Progress: Family Systems Research and Therapy, Volume 10, published by Phillips Graduate Institute in 2001.
Tanzini, L. (2001). “Women as Victims.” Progress: Family Systems Research and Therapy, 10, p. 167. Phillips Graduate Institute.
Her doctoral research later contributed to peer-reviewed research examining childhood sexual abuse, forgiveness, and adult life satisfaction. Dr. Tanzini was a coauthor of “Adult Life Satisfaction and the Role of Forgiveness After Childhood Sexual Abuse: Evidence from a Seventh-day Adventist Cohort,” published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. The publication identifies Dr. Tanzini with the Department of Public Health at Loma Linda University.
The study analyzed data from 5,506 adults and examined childhood sexual abuse during different developmental periods together with forgiveness of self, forgiveness of others, forgiveness by God, and adult life satisfaction. Childhood sexual abuse was associated with lower adult life satisfaction, while forgiveness of self and forgiveness of others were associated with higher life satisfaction.
The research also highlighted the potential importance of self-forgiveness and self-blame following childhood sexual abuse. The authors noted that self-blame may become a maladaptive response following childhood sexual trauma and that self-forgiveness may have particular importance in alleviating its long-term effects.
Morton, K. R., Tanzini, L., & Lee, J. W. (2019). “Adult Life Satisfaction and the Role of Forgiveness After Childhood Sexual Abuse: Evidence from a Seventh-day Adventist Cohort.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 58(1), 138–152. DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12575.
Loma Linda University research record