The Highlands have long been a centre of community, creativity, and resilience. The Highland Wellness Collective combines movement, mental health, and social connection. Founder Laura Johnson Scott, a dance artist and counsellor, leads it. Laura’s Growth for Good story is all about creativity and real-life experience. She wants to help others, so she created a social enterprise that meets people where they are. In a place where distance, rurality, and cost make it hard to get support, her approach is both timely and transformative.
A Journey from Dance to Mental Health Advocacy
Before joining the Highland Wellness Collective, Laura spent years on dance projects in the Highlands.
What is the Highland Wellness Collective?
“Creativity makes people open up,” she explains. Through dance projects, she provided informal support to people. She helped them tackle challenges they didn’t expect when entering a workshop.
Her journey with mental health led to the creation of In the Light. This funded Arts Council project explores common emotional patterns through dance. Visiting schools and communities led to important talks and deepened her passion for mental health work. When lockdown hit the creative industries, Laura shifted her focus to what she could do: have meaningful conversations.
This inspired her to retrain as a counsellor. She brought together her skills in community development, art, and therapy to form the Highland Wellness Collective.
Barriers to Mental Health Care in the Highlands
Seeing the gaps and filling them.
In a busy charity and mental health scene, Laura saw something important: people often needed to fit into specific boxes to get help.
“There are brilliant services,” she says, “but many are specialised: addiction, relationships, and suicide prevention. I wanted something that felt more collective, more accessible, with different entry points.”
- Professional counselling with sliding scale pricing
- Dance and movement programmes
- Sober collective initiatives
- Workshops, creative activities, day retreats, and community events.
The aim is to support the whole person, not a single issue, and to ensure everyone, whatever their circumstances, feels welcome.
Leading with Heart and Purpose
If the Wellness Collective has a defining feature, it is heart. Laura describes the organisation as heart-led, not in a sentimental sense but in the way purpose fuels perseverance.
“None of this is easy,” she says. “But a sense of purpose drives you to keep going.”
Her team, a blend of counsellors and trusted freelancers, shares that ethos. Value alignment is as important as skill. Laura excels at building relationships that support the group’s mission while preventing burnout. The board also plays a key role. They help her keep the organisation stable instead of pushing herself too far, which is common for mission-driven founders.
Creativity, community, and mental health in action.
The collective shows a clear link between creativity, community, and mental health in all its actions.
Laura teaches a weekly dance class for free. The proceeds help pay for counselling sessions at no or low cost. The Sober Collective helps people in sobriety through creative workshops. Local artists and freelancers help run sessions that feel welcoming, expressive, and safe.
Her role as a therapeutic arts coordinator at Highland Hospice boosted her belief in the power of creativity and action. “When people create together, they open up. It makes the vulnerable stuff feel easier.”
Barriers to Mental Health Care in the Highlands
Highland communities deal with known challenges. Laura points to a recent figure: 15% of children in the Highlands live in poverty.
Access, then, must be flexible. The collective offer:
- Online and in-person counselling
- Outdoor and nature-based therapy
- Pay what you can and subsidised options.
- Community events that break stigma and build trust.
- Social media content that demystifies therapy concepts.
Many people find out about the organisation at community events, such as the pre-loved clothing fundraiser, before they look for counselling.
“They create connections,” Laura says. “People feel part of something. And often that is the first step to accessing support.”
Looking ahead: space, scale, and a bigger dream.
With demand growing, Laura’s biggest ambition is clear: a dedicated physical space.
A place with counselling rooms, community workshops, creative studios, and space for partner organisations to run their own groups. There is also a focus on sustainability. This includes expanding student placements, developing affordable counselling pathways, and making the organisation a lasting part of the Highlands.
The dream of a Highland Wellness Festival is also present. This event would bring together practitioners, creatives, experts, and community members. They would celebrate wellbeing and connection on a larger scale.
A Collective Built on Contribution
Throughout the conversation, one theme keeps resurfacing: contribution. Laura believes everyone has got something valuable to offer. With the right support, this can create a ripple effect that changes lives.
The Highland Wellness Collective is proof of that. In a time when mental health services are stretched and people feel alone, it offers something special: a place where care meets action.