Coach Bio: Lauren Rigney

Lauren Rigney has spent her career approaching human performance from every angle — as a student of psychology, as a competitive athlete and coach, and as a licensed clinical counselor. That combination is unusual, and it's the foundation of everything she brings to her coaching practice.

Most coaches understand performance from one direction. Lauren understands it from three. She knows what it feels like to compete at the highest level, what the science says about why people perform the way they do, and what it takes — clinically, practically, and personally — to help someone change.

Her academic grounding begins with an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Princeton University and extends through graduate degrees in both Exercise and Sport Studies and Professional Counseling. She is a board certified mental health counselor licensed in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, a National Certified Counselor, and a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor — credentials that represent not just coursework but years of clinical practice.

Before becoming a counselor and coach, Lauren was a Division I college basketball player, a Division I and III basketball coach, and a personal trainer for over a decade. She has also served as an adjunct professor at NYU's Graduate Program in Applied Psychology and at NYIT's Undergraduate Program in Interdisciplinary Studies. She graduated from a Level V United States Center for Coaching Excellence accredited graduate program — the highest level of coach education available.

That breadth shapes how she works. Her clients are high-performers operating in demanding environments — senior executives, founders, leaders in finance and emerging technology, as well as athletes, creatives, and performers — who want to operate at their best when it matters most. Lauren brings the psychological depth to understand what's actually driving their behavior, the clinical skill to help them work through it, and the firsthand experience of high-performance environments to make that work feel grounded and real.

She is a co-founder of Pracademic Coaching, where her academic and clinical background is paired with Kristen Connor's 20 years of operating experience in the technology industry. Together they bring a genuinely uncommon combination to their clients: the rigorous and the practical, in equal measure.

Education

  • BA – Psychology from Princeton University

  • MS – Professional Counseling from Monmouth University

  • MS – Exercise and Sport Studies from Smith College

Licenses/Certifications