Michelle (Age 18)

A Young Woman searching for her passionate path.

During her tenth grade year, Michelle and her parents came to the small learning community that I founded and directed for homeschooled teenagers. Michelle was with me through to high school completion in 2019.

Academic work was not easy for her during high school. She did best with hands-on work, had a deep love of animals, and was an incredible artist. But none of these abilities allowed her to shine during her schooling years and by the time I met her in tenth grade, she was continuously anxious with severe migraines and disengaged from academics. She was also very immature socially and emotionally which is not unusual for a child who has experienced severe frustration throughout their schooling. 

We got her involved in trying new things. She started horseback riding lessons and discovered a love of horses, barns, and farm work. She took a job working at a local grass-fed beef farm and discovered her passion!

Along the way, we tailored her academics to suit her interests and ability level. I supported Michelle by holding space for her to always do what she felt ready and capable of doing. As well, I was present for her through her struggles with loving care.

By the time she graduated, she had rediscovered her happiness and was again excited for life. After graduation, she began a two-year apprenticeship at an organic dairy farm in Maine, where she thrived and developed as her true self. Michelle had found her authentic Self! She had blossomed with maturity and confidence. 

Michelle is an exemplary story of how a young person can heal and thrive when supported by cultivating their passions and stepping into their authentic self!

Kay & Mike (Parents)

Parents desiring more balance, fun, and growth for the entire family.

Wife and husband, Kay and Mike, came to me when there two children were in fourth and first grades. They came seeking help and support around their oldest child, a daughter, who was struggling socially and with school work but no one could quite put their finger on it.

I met with her and discovered that while there were not necessarily any learning difficulties, there were learning preferences, as well as her being very young for her grade. Mom began advocating for her more at school which helped significantly. I also began working with both parents on building their strength as parents and as a family.

Based on some of the challenging behaviors, they wondered if they were failing as parents. We begin a process of creating a bigger, long-term vision for their family which helped them to feel anchored in the difficult moments and to choose their battles better.

I also helped them to identify that their children needed more support and structure from them as parents. I worked with this family over the next five years and still work with them to this day.

Early on in our work, I noticed that their daughter in particular wanted more playful time and attention especially with her mother. This mom was a full-time career woman with a demanding job. I helped her to see that time with a babysitter did not substitute for time with mom. She greatly appreciated this and over the course of four years she did what she could to adjust her work schedule and her career to be more available to her children and to have time for more fun with them.

About four years into our working together she took a leave from her career and it ended up being one of the absolutely best decisions that she ever made. She then spent several months being a full-time mom before stepping into a new career position that was much more family friendly.

As a family, they still have their difficult moments, as any family does, and I'm always on call for them to navigate those difficulties. Even so, they are all thriving. My commitment to them is to always hold space for whatever their needs are in that moment.

I am available to both parents regarding parenting struggles, as well as navigating school, academic, and social arenas. I am available to support Mom with her own frustrations in her personal life, with relationships, and with work. Together, we navigated decisions about schooling and extracurricular activities, and whether to continue them or not.

This family is a great example of how I adapt and adjust to assist and support the entire family unit from a variety of perspectives–from parenting and education, to how children are doing as students, and how parents are navigating their own personal journey.

Chuck (Age 50)

A middle-aged surgeon seeking a fresh outlook on life and work.

Imagine arriving to age 50 and realizing that everything you've spent your entire professional life working towards is not what you thought it would be?! Imagine then finding someone to help you see that with clarity and to navigate a new path. This is the story of Chuck.

When Chuck came to me, he had a recent diagnosis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis and it was very clear that he was somewhat disillusioned by the career he had built for himself. He had worked very hard to get to this point in life only to find that it was not satisfying anymore. Together we began exploring various dimensions of his life.

On the health front, we began looking at his recent diagnosis and at options for healing versus treating. Chuck is a physician so he was very well-versed in the way that the current medical system keeps people sick. This was a considerable part of his feeling disillusioned.  He did not want to be a victim of the modern sickcare system in this particular respect. So we introduced him to the healing benefit and power of a whole foods plant-based diet. He shifted immediately and wholeheartedly and in due time his family shifted, too. He was tested again about a year after his initial diagnosis and there were no signs at all of Hashimoto's thyroiditis!

Another dimension we looked at was his beliefs and emotional blockages. We discovered that he had many beliefs around ‘hard work’, specifically that he was only allowed to have abundant financial success through arduous labor and hard work. This suited him well through his young life in college, medical school, and residency as a new, young doctor because he had the energy for it.

However, he eventually arrived at this point in his life where he could not hold up to that same amount of arduous work on a continual basis. I supported him in examining these outmoded beliefs that held his life in place and to shift away from a mindset that required him to be working long hours in order to be considered a valuable member of society.

We began dissolving emotional blockages that were wrapped up in his mindset. He had suffered a tremendous loss in early life and he was discovering emotional blockages from that experience.

Chuck also had many physical complaints all of which were along the right side of his body from his shoulder all the way down to his foot. He was fascinated to learn the connection between our emotions, our beliefs, and the physical manifestations that show up in our body. He began to work with this concept and to be experience shifting and relief in his physical body. After working together for only six months, he came to the decision to leave his position as a surgeon–one which he had held for over 20 years. He mustered up the courage to set off on his own.

Through our journey together, he discovered that he’s a very creative man who enjoys dreaming up new ideas, networking with people, and is comfortable with quite a level of risk-taking. He decided it was time to leave the operating room, the grind, the politics of a medical practice, and also the security of the medical practice he had built to set off on his own and use his God-given creativity to build sustainable solutions for wellness care around the world. Which he is now doing with great joy!

Carson (Age 18)

A Teenager IN Search of a meaningful future

When Carson was a senior in high school, he felt adrift and unsure about what was coming next in his life. He and his mother were at odds because he was dragging his feet on completing college applications. Carson’s mother had contacted me and asked me if I could support him in finishing his college applications. This was late November 2019, a few months before the world would be in an official pandemic.

Carson was 17 years old, soon to turn 18. During our first session, it became clear to me that Carson was dragging his feet because he was not entirely convinced that college was the path for him. Like many high-schoolers, Carson thought he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. In our first session, we zeroed in on his passions and they didn’t fit into the box he had built for himself! He had not even considered them as his legitimate life aspirations because he didn’t see how they fit into life as he knew it. 

By the end of our first session, Carson felt excited about life and about his future. He had a clear sense that he would make an impact on the world in a unique way. Soon after, he completed his college applications with greater ease because he understood the purpose that college may play in his life. More importantly, he felt a sense of purpose for his life! Ultimately, a sense of purpose is what every human needs and desires. 

Carson and I continued meeting for a full year throughout the pandemic. During this time he completed and graduated from high school and he made the decision to take a gap year. Most importantly, Carson felt a sense of ownership over his life and his endeavors, especially after he finished his high school requirements.

Throughout the year, he deeply engaged in self-designed studies on investments/finance, real estate, spiritual development, personal growth, and business. He created an online store, a YouTube channel, and a mentoring practice. With such a feeling of sovereignty over his life, he stepped into full responsibility for how his life unfolds and as such, began a regular meditation practice, motivational reading, journaling, intentional exercise, and mindful eating. As he brought these new life-promoting habits on board, he watched other habits fall away such as playing video games, mindless Netlfix viewing, and vaping.

Carson is an excellent example of a young man who was ready to be handed the reigns of full control over his life and take responsibility. His mother was in full support!

In her words, “When I first hired you I was thinking that you would help me help Carson in his daily life. What you have done is wrap him in so much love and support that I can actually talk to him about daily life. You did what I was hoping you would do but in a way that I didn’t even understand. Thank you.”