About me…

When I look back, I see that my fascination with our inner world led me to study literature, and art history and inspired my first career as a professional actor. However, by my mid-twenties, I was barely able to function, crippled by depression, addiction, and extreme physical pain.

At the time the diagnosis of c-PTSD was not common, but I was extremely lucky to land in therapy with a shamanic psychotherapist. Her body-centred and spiritual approach to healing was far out of my experience, and at the time very far out of mainstream practice but would now be considered an evidence-based treatment. I spent over a decade as a client and student at the Toronto Institute for Shamanic Psychotherapy. I am forever grateful to Heloisa da Silva Porto for her unwavering loving care and commitment.

I started my career in the healing arts as a Yoga and Meditation teacher. For a decade I ran a Yoga Program through a non-profit in Toronto supporting women living with eating disorders. I am trained as an ITM Alexander Technique teacher and trainer. While I loved my work teaching the Alexander Technique to artists and performers around the world for over a decade, my chronic health issues, particularly migraines persisted.

Over the past ten years, I studied the emerging knowledge about our nervous systems, trauma, and the newer approaches to mind/body medicine that are gaining scientific evidence. I found scientific support for the practices I learned from the shamanic and yoga traditions. I realised that to get well, I would need to create my own personal recovery program and also make some difficult life changes.

I started working with myself daily with a focus on healing past trauma and creating new neural pathways for health, using a combination of all the modalities I had studied over the years. As I gained traction in resolving my health issues, I realized that I could use the exact same processes to not only heal my body, but heal my life and move into a more furfilling life experience.

When I started, I had no idea if what I was doing would work. During this time I was introduced to Internal Family Systems in a writing class. IFS validated the experiences I was having with my process and gave me a simple roadmap I could follow. I certified as a Life Coach with Martha Beck and then moved through a series of IFS trainings, I am now trained by the IFS Institute.

I bring three decades of study to my coaching practice. I have learned that the skills and tools that heal our inner world are also the tools and skills that heal our lives. If my clients desire to heal their bodies, mind, or spirit, I have the tools.

I support my clients in pursuing success in the outer world in a way that is deeply fulfilling and satisfying because it is in integrity with our inner world, our true selves and our spiritual purpose.

 Interested in working with me? Click here to book in for a free 1-hour life coaching consultation on Zoom to see if my coaching services might be a good fit for you. I look forward to meeting you.

Coaching Certifications:

Certified Martha Beck Life Coach

International Coaching Federation Associate Certified Coach

Internal Family Systems Training:

Internal Family Systems Institute Training Level I (IFSI)

IFSCA Stepping Stones (IFSCA)

IFSI Online Circle (IFSI)

IFS with Somatic Symptoms (Susan Mcconnell)

IFS for Shame and Guilt (Martha Sweezy)

Cultural and Legacy Burdens (IFSI Anne Sinko and Dick Schwartz)

IFS Therapy: An Energetic and Spiritual Approach (Kay Gardner)

Direct Access: An Essential IFS Skill (Fran Booth)

Compassionate Enquiry Meets Internal Family Systems (Gabor Mate, Dick Schwartz)

An IFS Approach to Relational Boundry Negotiation (Dr. Liisa Rankin)

IFS as medical treatment (Dr. Frank Anderson, Dr. Lissa Rankin)

Creating Healing Circles (Chris Burris)

Unlocking Financial Healing (IFSCA)

Movement and Somatic training and certifications:

Certified ITM Alexander Technique Teacher

Certified ITM Alexander Technique Trainer

Certified Yoga Instructor (The Yoga Studio)

Certified Restorative Yoga Teacher (Judith Lasater)

Certified Applied Polyvagal Theory and Yoga (Dr. Arielle Schwartz, Dr Steven Porges)

The Body as Healer (Peter Levine)

Polyvagal Theory: Principles and Practice for Individuals (PVI Deb Dana, Steven Porges)

Formal Education:

BA, English Language and Literature, Smith College (Junior Year at Trinity College Dublin).

Theatre training: Yale University, National Theatre Institute.

 Swiss Matura Type B (ancient languages) Institute Montana.