About the Owner

Luna Psychotherapy and Wellness, LLC is owned and operated by Elizabeth Lombardo, a South Carolina native. She completed a bachelor’s degree in Experimental Psychology (2017) and a master’s degree in Applied Clinical Psychology (2020), both from the University of South Carolina. She began her clinical career in 2019 by working in case management in Aiken, SC at an inpatient psychiatric hospital, later followed by intensive outpatient care where she was a group therapy facilitator for both the Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient programs. Liz holds a South Carolina and North Carolina counseling license.

The "Spark"

Liz began private practice in Huntersville, North Carolina in 2021. Her experience of private practice in the field of mental health had been typical of what most think of when they imagine going to therapy.…a cozy room, a couch, some lamps, a nice rug, maybe some fidget toys on the coffee table, and "the chair the therapist sits in." For the therapist, this generally becomes their daily world from 9am-5pm five days a week. While this was certainly a powerful room - a place where unique and transformative connections were made, and safe space for the hardest of conversation, and a predictably supportive environment - why did something feel as if it were missing? And why did it seem like the majority of clients’ issues were maintained by painfully low self-regard and negative core beliefs that no matter how often we challenged those beliefs, the roots remained? 

With the support of colleagues, Liz began cultivating a specialization in trauma-focused intervention in 2023, beginning with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) training. This led to a major professional shift in her theoretical orientation to counseling. True to form, when one major shift happens in life other shifts tend to follow. Personal life events led to Liz deepening her self-care practice and she incorporated Yoga into her own routine, which ✨sparked✨ an idea. Practicing Yoga continued to illuminate Liz's newfound passion for integrating somatic-based interventions into psychotherapy and she had the thought (granted, it wasn't this eloquent at first): 

"True wellness isn’t just about getting your head right. It’s about creating a luminous balance between our mind, body, and being."

More Than Mental Health

From this, the idea for a hybrid mental health practice and yoga studio where one can experience the benefit of Yoga practice on mental health was born. Yoga classes rooted in mental health and wellbeing also facilitated by a teacher with an extensive background in clinical mental health and trauma work? This seemed like a winner. 

Liz wanted to bring Luna back to her home community in South Carolina but didn't want Luna to be just another yoga studio. Luna's philosophy on Yoga practice would not be rooted in fitness ideals, achieving the right physical aesthetic, or even progress in performance. Practicing Yoga and movement at Luna needed to be an invitation - an invitation to come back to self-compassion. Back to inner awareness. Back to deeper feeling. Back to just being you. It was clear that Yoga at Luna needed to be rooted in accessibility, self-compassion, and trauma-informed methods. In 2024, plans unfurled to make Luna a brick-and-mortar reality.

Named With Purpose

Luna draws its name from the quiet, enduring presence of the moon - a symbol of cycles, change, and wholeness. Just as the moon moves through phases of light, darkness, and everything in between, so too do our inner experiences shift and evolve. This name reflects the understanding that healing is everything BUT linear. There are moments of clarity and moments of shadow, yet each phase holds value. Inspired by the idea that even when the moon appears incomplete, it is always whole. Luna honors the inherent completeness within every person. At Luna, growth is not about becoming someone new, but about recognizing and reconnecting with the wholeness that has always been present.