Lori Kalaaukahi Of Aloha Nui Counseling Provides Therapy With An ‘Aloha Spirit’ 

Licensed Clinical Social Worker Lori Kalaaukahi-Boone specializes in mental health therapy for teens, adults & couples. Her office is in Zephyrhills, but she also offers Telehealth appointments. (Photos by Charmaine George) 

In 2011, Lori Kalaaukahi-Boone was ready to get off the island of Oahu in Hawaii, where she was born, had been raised and lived her whole life. 

She had been working as a medical assistant and a nurse’s aide, and was struggling with mental health issues. She wanted to explore the world, so she did something unconventional for a single mom in her mid-30s. 

Lori enlisted in the Army. 

“At 34, I just barely made the age cutoff,” she says. “Growing up on a small island can become claustrophobic, and I felt like I was going in circles.” 

She asked her parents to care for her two kids, Tihani (then 17) and Ramsay (then 7), and she headed out to boot camp at Fort Jackson, SC. She found herself in basic training with kids just barely older than her older daughter back home, taking orders from people much younger than she was. 

After serving four years in the Army, she was living in Tennessee and was able to use GI Bill benefits to earn both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Social Work from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville. 

At first, she thought she would be a nurse, but she was struggling in the program. Then, a friend who was a social worker told her about his job. 

“It just resonated with me, and I knew this is what I needed to do,” she says. “When I changed my program, everything started flowing naturally, and I knew I was supposed to be a therapist.” 

She graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in 2018 and her Master’s in 2020. Now, she is credentialed as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), which means she is qualified to provide services independently. 

When she first came to Florida, Lori worked with an agency in Clearwater providing community mental health. She helped people who were homeless and struggling with addiction, as well as many other issues. 

But now, this Wesley Chapel resident is tackling her dream of having her own practice, which she opened in Zephyrhills in July 2023. She provides teens, adults and couples with mental health care via virtual and in-office appointments. 

She says she named her practice Aloha Nui Counseling Services to embrace her Hawaiian heritage, and what is important to her in her relationships with her clients. 

“‘Aloha nui’ means ‘Take good care,’ or ‘Lots of love,’” she says. “It’s basically our version of southern hospitality.” 

She says it’s important to her that she incorporates that spirit with all of her clients. 

“In my culture, we’re brought up to help others, love others and care for others,” Lori says. “I wanted to implement that here in my practice.” 

EMDR Therapy 

Lori says that, as a former soldier herself, she is especially passionate about helping those who have experienced any kind of trauma to process their issues and heal. 

One way she does this is a specialized trauma therapy called EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing. 

Lori explains that EMDR is a well-known modality that uses eye movements to help people process trauma in a healthy way. 

“It helps your brain to process the images in your head in a healthy manner so it doesn’t get stuck,” she says. “It’s almost like how eating too much food can cause it to get stuck, and we start choking. images can get stuck in our brains, too.” 

She says EMDR puts a patient into a similar state to REM (rapid eye movement, a state of deep sleep) and she installs positive cognitions to help her patients process their trauma. 

“Once it’s completed,” she says, “you still have these images, but it’s no longer accompanied by heavy emotions.” 

Lori has completed 60 hours of training to be qualified to practice this modality. She also has used it under supervision to complete her training so she is well qualified to help those who need to work through traumatic issues and find healing from those difficult events or times of their lives. 

Lori definitely also has a heart for those who have served in the military, as not only a veteran herself, but also as the daughter of a veteran, and now the spouse of a veteran, too. 

When Lori was stationed and living in Tennessee, her parents loved to visit her there. She says it was her father who inspired her to join the Army. She knew it would “knock his socks off” for her to join, after his own 36-year military career. With the low prices relative to the cost of living in Hawaii, and the southern hospitality that reminded them of home, they relocated to Tennessee. 

Lori’s husband Barry Boone is retired from the Army and brought the family to Florida to work as a military recruiter. Tihani now lives in Hawaii, where she is married with four daughters. She is a nurse who earned her Bachelor’s degree in 2020, the same year her mom got her Master’s. 

Ramsay still lives with Lori’s parents in Tennessee and is in school to become a fashion designer, and her 12-year-old daughter Teveah is home-schooled. Barry has three adult children of his own, as well. 

With all of her experience raising children, as a single mom and as part of a blended family, she feels she has no problem relating to adolescents and understands what they’re going through. 

She encourages teenagers who are struggling or parents who see their children suffering from mental health issues to reach out to her. 

“It’s okay to not be okay,” Lori says. “Mental health is not something to be afraid of. Let’s normalize mental issues in the same way medical issues are normalized.” 

Aloha Nui Counseling offers a free initial consultation. While Lori is happy to see patients in person at her office in Zephyrhills, she also offers Telehealth appointments for anyone who prefers to meet that way. 

She works with clients who have insurance to pay the cost of counseling and those who self-pay. 

Bonita Ashe, a colleague of Lori’s who is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, says the following about Lori, which was published on Lori’s profile at PsychologyToday.com. 

“Lori has an authentic style and warm demeanor and she will immediately calm an anxious spirit,” Bonita says. “If you need a kind and compassionate therapist, your search ends here. Lori is EMDR trained and a therapist I would trust with any client.” 

To schedule a free consultation, call Lori at (808) 342-1042, email her at LLorik808@ gmail.com, or visit AlohaNuiService.com. Aloha Nui Counseling is located at 5344 9th St., Suite 105, in downtown Zephyrhills, and appointments are offered in person or via Telehealth. 

Christian-Based Counseling In Wesley Chapel Gives Patients Boundless Hope 

Licensed mental health counselor Jolene Lantz (right) leads the team of nine mental health professionals available to Wesley Chapel residents at Boundless Hope Christian Clinical Counseling in the Summergate Professional Park behind Sam’s Club off S.R. 56. (Photo by Charmaine George) 

Jolene Lantz, M.A., is a licensed mental health counselor who is passionate about providing excellent, professional therapeutic interventions. She also happens to be a Christian who is equally passionate about her faith. 

Before she founded Boundless Hope Christian Clinical Counseling, Jolene saw that many Christians who sought Biblical, pastoral counseling from their church didn’t have access to clinical interventions. She also saw that, sometimes, when some Christians went to a clinician, they felt that their faith was not welcomed in therapy, or that the counseling did not align with their own beliefs. 

“Why can’t we have both?,” Jolene says she asked herself. 

In 2019, Boundless Hope was just Jolene and a couple of part-time clinicians in the Summergate Professional Center in Seven Oaks. She and her team worked to provide a safe place where the latest research and best clinical practices are incorporated, but where faith is prioritized, too. 

“We focus on clinical intervention that works,” says Jolene, “and working with clinicians who know the Bible if the client wants to incorporate that (into their therapy).” 

But, she says, Boundless Hope also has many clinical relationships with people who do not identify as Christian. 

“We are so grateful for those who aren’t Christian who trust us,” Jolene says. “It’s so important for us to treat and love people well, which is in alignment with our theology that recognizes that people are created in the image of God and deserve respect. We want everyone to feel safe and respected in our office, and we don’t have to share the same faith to treat someone clinically — and treat them well.” 

Since the practice opened, Boundless Hope has expanded to a second location on N. Dale Mabry Hwy. in Lutz, and now has a total of 17 clinicians seeing patients. Nine of those are based in Wesley Chapel, but Jolene says that virtually all 17 are available to see clients at either location. 

“We’re pretty eclectic as far as our preferred places of worship,” says Jolene, “We’re a denominationally, ethnically and racially diverse group of clinicians of all different ages. We work hard, play hard, and have a great sense of community among our staff. It’s a really great place to work with pretty awesome people.” 

Jolene says she started out as a full-time homeschool mom doing some clinical work on the side. 

She and her husband Jim have three children. Maxwell, now 16, is the youngest. Samuel, 20, is studying sports management at Florida State University in Tallahassee, and Abigail, 23, is at the University of South Florida (USF) Morsani College of Medicine in Tampa studying to be a physician. 

Jolene graduated from USF in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Psychology with minors in Chemistry and Sociology. She then earned her Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in Counseling Psychology from Saint Xavier University in Chicago, IL. 

She says that, like her daughter, she also started out on a pre-med track, but got ill and had to withdraw from school. 

Dealing with that experience caused her to change her major to focus on helping others to heal and become emotionally healthier. 

She says the team at Boundless Hope focuses on training and collaboration, and that the training they all do far exceeds what’s required by the state. 

“We’re a learning bunch, an academic bunch,” she says. “We’re always reading, sharing, and training. When I’m interviewing clinicians, I look for people who enjoy that. If you don’t want to continue to learn and train, you’re not going to be happy here.” 

Jolene says that post-Covid, there’s more awareness and acknowledgement than ever that people need to pay more attention to their mental health. 

She says she sees evidence of this when people purchase counseling sessions for high school graduates or engaged couples. “Counseling is not just for ‘that’ person anymore,” she says. “(More) people now realize that it’s for all of us.” 

Boundless Hope provides therapy for many reasons, including children struggling with behavioral issues, impulse control, or hyperactivity. 

“We offer play therapy for children,” Jolene says. “We have a beautiful play therapy room in our Lutz office and also do play therapy in the Wesley Chapel office. Play is the language of children. They will play out emotions and memories held within them quite easily when traditional ‘talk’ therapy isn’t developmentally appropriate or effective.” 

Also available are therapy for individuals and couples, for those with relationship struggles, as well as divorce counseling and divorce recovery, including recovery for the children of parents who divorce. 

Boundless Hope clinicians also offer premarital counseling and treat people who are suffering from anxiety and depression, and help those who self-harm. 

Jolene says some people come in because they are wrestling with their faith and are trying to work out what they once believed and what they still believe. 

Some clinicians counsel elite athletes who work through “imposter syndrome,” stress management and perfectionism. 

Boundless Hope also receives referrals from law enforcement and the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) to help victims of sexual violence and abuse. Some of these people have been through heinous experiences, Jolene says, and there are several clinicians who specialize in complex trauma and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. 

Boundless Hope also offers intensive weekend therapy where an individual or couple can do four, six, or eight hours over a single weekend. This is for patients who are looking for immediate relief or want to gain momentum in their therapy, rather than waiting a week or two for their next single hour-long session. 

Unique Therapies 
Boundless Hope clinician Karrissa Manchester teaches about supporting children with acute PTSD at an event at the Lutz office. (Photo provided by Jolene Lantz) 

In addition, Jolene says a couple of the counselors are very highly skilled in specific types of training that some people may be seeking. For example, Boundless Hope has counselors who are trained and certified in EMDR (eye movement desensitization & reprocessing), which she explains is a neurobiological modality of treatment that is federally recognized as effective for helping veterans heal from PTSD and relieve anxiety, depression and phobias. 

One counselor is a certified practitioner in “brainspotting,” which is a different neurobiological intervention, although Jolene says, “it shares similar roots in neuro science as EMDR. Brainspotting is a brain- and body-based modality of lasting healing.” 

“We certainly still do talk therapy,” says Jolene, “but we also offer brain-based treatments. Because old trauma is stored in the body, we’ve seen successes where some autoimmune disorders actually go into remission or migraines go away. It’s pretty phenomenal.” 

Jolene also notes that Boundless Hope is fully credentialed by Focus on the Family, which is a global Christian ministry dedicated to helping families thrive. 

“Focus on the Family has a series of doctrinal questions, as well as clinical vignettes, that a clinician must submit for review and acceptance,” she says. “There are not many credentialed in our area. There were fewer than ten within 25 miles of here the last time I looked.” 

Beyond the more trauma-heavy situations, Jolene says, “We also have beautiful grief counselors, and counselors serving the neurodivergent and those with chronic pain and end of life/terminal diagnoses. We also would love to normalize that life has day-to- day challenges and anyone and everyone can enjoy investing in themselves in a place to be disinhibited and talk through life with someone who is objective and not involved in your personal life.” 

While not all clinicians at Boundless Hope accept insurance, Jolene says 25-30% do accept it. The practice also has a graduate intern on staff. Interns are fully educated and have completed all of their coursework, but have to complete supervised clinical hours, so they can offer fees to patients on a sliding scale, based on what people can afford. 

Jolene also recently started a nonprofit called “One Another” that allows Boundless Hope to serve more people. She says it began because people were coming back after completing treatment to provide gifts so that other people could experience the healing they did through counseling at Boundless Hope. 

To start counseling with one of the Boundless Hope clinicians, call the office or visit BoundlessHope.net. On the website, there are boxes that say, “Start Here” or “Hopes Starts Here” that you can click to go to a HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act)-compliant form that will allow you to send a secure message, and someone will get back with you. 

Jolene says she also is careful to have adequate administrative staff to respond to inquiries. “Unfortunately, our industry is known for horrible administrative care where no one answers the phone or gets a call back,” she says. “I believe that’s because very few clinicians have administrative staff.” 

She says it’s important to her personally that phones get answered and that people are heard. Emails are even answered over the weekend. 

“I recognize how long it can take for some people to make the decision to enter into counseling,” Jolene says. “There’s effort and work and sometimes a lot of emotional turmoil and pain to get to the point of making that call.” 

Boundless Hope’s Wesley Chapel office is located at 27551 Cashford Cir., Suite #102. To learn more about the Boundless Hope clinical team, including each clinician’s credentials, visit BoundlessHope.net or call (813) 219-8844.