Lynn Horan, PhD Leadership & Life Development

Lynn Horan, PhD Leadership & Life Development Author | Researcher | Leadership Coach for Empathetic Purpose-Driven Women
www.lynnhoran.com

A core element of my leadership and life coaching is supporting women as we RECALIBRATE our lives through meaningful sea...
02/01/2026

A core element of my leadership and life coaching is supporting women as we RECALIBRATE our lives through meaningful seasonal shifts.

For many of my clients, this means TRANSITIONING out of unhealthy family dynamics and toxic workplace settings, where annual cycles are driven by corporate calendars and religious traditions, which are often at odds with our deeper SEASONAL NEEDS and longings.

Aligning our lives with nature-driven agricultural seasons enables us to tap into ancient practices that EMBRACE the divine feminine, UPHOLD our need for rest and rejuvenation, and CREATE sustainable pathways for personal growth.

Imbolc (February 1st) is one of these dynamic times of seasonal ALIGNMENT, situated halfway between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.

An ancient Celtic agricultural festival, Imbolc celebrates the earth’s WAKENING as the days begin to visibly lengthen. Meaning “in the belly,” Imbolc celebrations honor the birth of the first lambs and SURVIVAL through the harshest season.

What SUBTLE SHIFTS or seismic changes are you sensing beneath the surface of your own life? How might they be an INVITATION to acknowledge unspoken needs and reclaim deeper longings?

www.lynnhoran.com/coaching

As snow falls across the U.S., a reminder about seasonal depression and its effect on women -- ❄️Seasonal DEPRESSION is ...
01/25/2026

As snow falls across the U.S., a reminder about seasonal depression and its effect on women --

❄️Seasonal DEPRESSION is a very real and often INVISIBILIZED experience, especially for empathetic and CAREGIVING women.

❄️Increased feelings of hopelessness, isolation, and OVERWHELM are compounded due to societal expectations of the self-sacrificial woman as well as biological realities specifically affecting women’s physical health.

❄️ Naming these dynamics is the first step toward more AUTHENTIC and HUMANIZING narratives of women’s experiences.

www.lynnhoran.com/coaching

I am honored that the Journal of Religion and Gender has accepted my article abstract for the next stage of review in th...
01/20/2026

I am honored that the Journal of Religion and Gender has accepted my article abstract for the next stage of review in their upcoming special issue “The Politics of Parenting: Reimagining Gender and Belief.”

The article is based on my work as a dance and movement therapist with the human rights organization Paz y Esperanza Peru and explores decolonizing approaches to embodied spirituality, resilience, and resistance among adolescent mothers and survivors of sexual abuse in Central Peru.

Thank you to my colleagues in Huánuco, Peru and their faithful commitment to human-centered, trauma-informed leadership, and to the Journal of Religion and Gender for supporting this important work.

Learn more:
www.lynnhoran.com

Extremely grateful to be publishing my next academic journal article “Exploiting Empathetic Women Leaders and the Shadow...
01/05/2026

Extremely grateful to be publishing my next academic journal article “Exploiting Empathetic Women Leaders and the Shadow Side of Servant Leadership” in the Journal of Management Spirituality & Religion's upcoming special issue "The Spiritual Dimensions of Love in Leadership: Critical Perspectives, Shadow Aspects, and Integral Approaches."

Special thanks to the JMSR editorial board and guest editors Dr. Mohammed Raei and Dr. Aqeel Tirmizi for embracing this work.

To learn more visit:
https://www.lynnhoran.com/journal-of-management-spirituality-and-religion.html

Yesterday I drove through the backroads near our home in upstate New York and noticed the landscape had completely trans...
01/02/2026

Yesterday I drove through the backroads near our home in upstate New York and noticed the landscape had completely transformed. Thick pine boughs hovered over the roads like archways leading to Narnia, while barren cornfields now blanketed in snow were wind swept and dotted with animal tracks.

It seems like yesterday that our favorite apple orchard was brimming with hardy fruit - but now displaying rows of grey tangled branches bowing to the earth in a gesture of deep surrender.

I soaked up the stillness of the early setting sun, having been in a postpartum haze for the past two weeks. My fourth and final baby was born amid this seasonal shift, and as I prepared to leave the hospital on the first day of winter, I marveled at the timing of all this.

The Yule season has a way of dismissing our plans and replacing them with a broader sense of purpose, patience, and preparation. For those of us who strive for predictable schedules, visible achievements, and linear progress, this season challenges us to turn inward toward the unchartered crevices of self-discovery.

I always find that my body needs this season, especially now. As I adjust to being a mom of four, I am in awe of how Mother Nature has gifted me with a slower pace, even as I manage the new demands and heightened energy of family life.

Wherever you find yourself this season, may it STRETCH you in ways that remind you of your STRENGTH, yet also usher in the kind of peace that quietly TRANSFORMS the ground beneath you.

www.lynnhoran.com

My work weaves together trauma-informed research, women-centered coaching, and embodied social change in ways that chall...
01/01/2026

My work weaves together trauma-informed research, women-centered coaching, and embodied social change in ways that challenge the very foundations of how we understand women's leadership.

Through this work, I am guided by a fundamental belief -- when women RECLAIM their agency, voice, and truth, entire systems TRANSFORM.

As I look to the new year, I'm committed to creating BRAVE spaces where women leaders can METABOLIZE family and workplace trauma, set radical boundaries, and REIMAGINE leadership one embodied insight at a time.

www.lynnhoran.com

⭐Celebrating 2025⭐ As I reflect on the past year, I am extremely grateful for those who have accompanied me, inspired me...
12/31/2025

⭐Celebrating 2025⭐

As I reflect on the past year, I am extremely grateful for those who have accompanied me, inspired me, and encouraged my work to foster voice, agency, and purpose among empathetic women leaders in our varied roles and leadership spaces.

⭐2025 Highlights:

🌿 Published my doctoral research "DISMANTLED: Abusive Church Culture and the Clergy Women Who Leave," which was a #1 NEW RELEASE in Self-Help for Abuse and #2 BEST SELLER in Gender & Sexuality in Religious Studies on Amazon.
www.lynnhoran.com/dismantled

Thanks to the courageous women leaders who participated in this research, this body of work reveals the systemic issues of workplace psychological abuse and gendered scapegoating of empathetic women leaders and offers strength-based pathways of recovery and healing within and beyond toxic workplace culture.

⭐ Additional Publications:

🌿 Contributed the chapter "Activism, Performance, and Spiritual Ritual: The Roots of Embodied Social Change" in the anthology "Leadership at the Spiritual Edge: Exploring Emerging and Non-Western Concepts of Spirituality and Leadership" (Routledge), which became a TOP 20 Amazon book under Occupational & Organizational Psychology.
www.lynnhoran.com/leadership-at-the-spiritual-edge.html

🌿 Contributed the chapter “Reconstituting Self Beyond Toxic Workplace Culture,” in the International Leadership Association’s Transformative Women Leaders Book Series, coming March 2026.
www.lynnhoran.com/transformative-women-leaders-book-series.html

🌿 Journal article “Exploiting Empathetic Women Leaders and the Shadow Side of Servant Leadership” accepted for publication in the Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion, coming June 2026.

🌿 Served as a peer reviewer for three academic journals in gender, leadership, politics, and religion.

⭐ Coaching and Advocacy:

🌿 Received the INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY "Your Story, Your Impact" Award, which I was able to use to support my colleagues at Paz y Esperanza in central Peru and their work with survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

🌿 Launched and expanded GOAT WALKERS, my coaching program for empathetic, purpose-driven women navigating new thresholds and life transitions.
www.lynnhoran.com/goat-walkers.html

🌿 Presented on GENDERED SCAPEGOATING at the International Conference on Heroes in Contemporary Culture.

⭐To learn more visit: www.lynnhoran.com

It’s such an honor to be featured on Antioch University’s 2025 book list for the Graduate School of Leadership Change, a...
12/27/2025

It’s such an honor to be featured on Antioch University’s 2025 book list for the Graduate School of Leadership Change, alongside Antioch professors Dr. Rengin Firat and Dr. Michell Kusy.

My 2025 release of DISMANTLED: Abusive Church Culture and the Clergy Women Who Leave (Tehom Center Publishing), focuses on the systemic issues of feminized servanthood and gendered scapegoating within empathetic and care-giving professions. Through a strength-based feminist approach, DISMANTLED highlights embodied leadership practices that support women who are healing from trauma and psychological abuse within and beyond toxic workplace culture.

To learn more visit: www.lynnhoran.com/dismantled

⭐️ As I support other women to reclaim VOICE, VALUE, and PURPOSE beyond toxic work, religious, and family systems, there...
12/13/2025

⭐️ As I support other women to reclaim VOICE, VALUE, and PURPOSE beyond toxic work, religious, and family systems, there is often a common thread of recovery from toxic theologies and religious-based trauma.

⭐️ In my own journey beyond church culture, both personally and professionally, I have found COMFORT and renewed INSIGHT from SANTA LUCIA, who is celebrated today in many Nordic communities, both religious and non-religious. Her iconography resonates with the pre-Christian Nordic Yule tradition, winter solstice observers, as well as faith-oriented feminists.

⭐️ The histories written about Santa Lucia are visceral and hauntingly powerful in their relevance to the continued need to respect and honor women’s BOUNDARIES, BODIES, and CHOICES.

"Night comes with heavy steps through our land, calling.
Sunlight, the earth forgets; shadows are falling.
However dark the night, rising with candles bright,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!"

~ Italian & Swedish Folksong

www.lynnhoran.com

It’s such an honor to be invited to endorse my dear friend and colleague Elaine Murray’s new book: In Your End Is Your B...
12/02/2025

It’s such an honor to be invited to endorse my dear friend and colleague Elaine Murray’s new book: In Your End Is Your Beginning: A Memoir and Spiritual Wayfinding Manual (Tehom Center Publishing)

Order wherever books are sold!

Thrilled to share the cover for my upcoming publication in "INSPIRATIONAL WOMEN LEADERS: The Challenges and Rewards of R...
11/30/2025

Thrilled to share the cover for my upcoming publication in "INSPIRATIONAL WOMEN LEADERS: The Challenges and Rewards of Religion, Spirituality, Purpose, and Calling in Leadership" - final book in the International Leadership Association's Transformative Women Leaders Book Series.

I'm so grateful to be part of this incredible community of authors and change makers and to share my research on EMPATHETIC WOMEN LEADERS and the process of embodied healing and reconstituting of self beyond toxic workplace culture.

Learn more at:
https://www.lynnhoran.com/transformative-women-leaders-book-series.html

I am deeply moved by this latest review of my book DISMANTLED: Abusive Church Culture and the Clergy Women Who Leave I’m...
11/30/2025

I am deeply moved by this latest review of my book DISMANTLED: Abusive Church Culture and the Clergy Women Who Leave

I’m so grateful for how this body of work continues to move in the world, impacting the field of gender and embodied leadership, and transforming the lives of empathetic women leaders who are experiencing and recovering from toxic workplace cultures.

www.lynnhoran.com/dismantled

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Albany, NY

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