History
The LightHeart Institute was founded in 1987 by Lisa Hill DiFusco at the encouragement and inspiration of surgeon and best-selling author Bernie Siegel MD. At a sold-out crowd for one of Dr. Siegel’s two-day workshops at the University of Rochester Medical Center , Lisa invited participants dealing with cancer to join a support group called LightHeart – where they could learn how to be proactive in their recovery process – a radical idea for the day!
Twenty-two people signed up and support groups were formed in the City of Rochester. Clients learned mind-body techniques – guided imagery, meditation, journal writing, self-hypnosis, picture drawing and nutritional care – to increase their health and vitality.
By 1989 the LightHeart support groups evolved into a Holistic Psychotherapy Practice where clients conversed and resolved issues pertaining to addiction, co-dependency, childhood abuse and neglect, and life-altering illness. With our growth LightHeart was renamed The LightHeart Institute highlighting a vision of becoming Rochester’s leading resource for health and vitality.
During the early 1990’s workshops on personal growth and nutritional classes were added. Three and five day Outdoor Wilderness Retreats, modeled after the Vision Quest ‘rite of passage,’ gave clients the opportunity to deepen their self-awareness and spiritual growth.
Corporate coaching and consulting began in 1995. Team development retreats for Xerox Corporation lead to several Executive Coaching, Leadership Development and Management Consulting projects around the Rochester area and the second division of The LightHeart Institute, Corporate Leadership, was born.
In 2008 we began offering Holistic Health Consultations with an orientation toward Functional Medicine. our clients another option for optimizing their physical and mental health The sale of physician-formuated nutritional products began and later, educational seminars in Functional Medicine.
We feel proud that we have remained on the cutting edge; first, in the late 1980s as a pioneer in the arena of holistic health, promoting the mind-body connection, and more recently, heralding a new paradigm of medicine called Functional Medicine, as the responsible solution to physical and psychiatric chronic conditions and reversing chronic disease.
Some twenty-seven years after our founding we are more dedicated than ever to inspiring and equipping our clients with tools and processes to lead rewarding and fulfilled lives with emotional health, physical vitality, spiritual growth and leadership excellence.
Imagine living the life of your dreams…
We are here to help you do, just that!