Is trauma from the past preventing you from living your fullest life in the present?
Trauma is the past that remains. Ordinarily, we can recognize that the past has already occurred. In trauma, though, we carry the past around with us in ways we may not even notice. Since what happened was too much to process in the past, our minds and bodies become preoccupied (and exhausted) by the continuous attempt to make sense of it. This gradually depletes our vitality or lifeforce – our human capacity to experience desire and take meaningful action in life.
BOOK A CONSULTATIONMy Coaching 1-PagerWhat I Do
As a certified trauma-informed coach, I work with trauma survivors to rediscover the agency and responsibility within themselves that trauma so often blinds us to. No one can change the past, but through coaching, clients develop skills to reconnect with their desires, take action, and ultimately move forward in the present.
I offer coaching in three main areas:
GENERAL TRAUMA RECOVERY COACHING
Intended for: anyone whose experience(s) of trauma in the past have become obstacles to fully realizing their potential and desired goals in the present.
RECOVERY COACHING FOR RELIGIOUS/SPIRITUAL TRAUMA
Intended for: individuals who have experienced trauma in the context of religious expression or community in a way that now limits their capacity to engage the religious/spiritual aspects of their self or lives. I have particular experience working with trauma survivors who come from an Eastern Orthodox Christian background.
TRAUMA-INFORMED WRITING COACHING
Intended for: Professional or semi-professional writers whose past experiences of trauma are limiting progress on their creative projects and desires. Trauma has a tremendous impact on our creative capacity. Whether or not someone is explicitly writing about their trauma, the writing process requires inner connectedness, vulnerability, and creativity – all of which can trigger or intensify distressing memories and symptoms associated with trauma.
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Why the dandelion?
Images of dandelion seeds feature prominently in my coaching materials. For me, the dandelion is a powerful symbol not only of the pain and loss of trauma, but also the hope that comes through surviviving, adapting, and healing from it.
There is an innocence about dandelions. Not only are they one of the first flowers we encounter up close as children, but newly bloomed dandelions – all guileless and golden – are almost like children themselves.
But life – and childhood, and innocence – don’t always go as planned. Just as time plucks away the hopeful hue of dandelion petals, so too trauma robs its sufferers of their inner sense of innocence and simplicity. So many traumatic experiences occur early in life, at the hands of those entrusted to care for us, or during our first experiences of love and romantic attraction as young adults. Instead of opening us up to life and love, these experiences harden us around the burden of our past until we become little more than faint whispers of the selves we perhaps could have been. Here, too, the dandelion visualizes hope. Even though its seeds are not as bright or eye-catching as its petals once were, it has matured. It has not only survived but become capable of letting go of what it once held, and in the letting go, of spreading life beyond itself.
No one can change or remove a past trauma from their life story. We can, though, embody the resilience of the dandelion. We can learn to let go of what we never should have had to carry, and in its place recover the hope and innocence our inner child lost. And in doing so, we bring life not only to ourselves but also to others and the world around us. This is truly sacred work, and I count it a great privilege to hold space for fellow trauma survivors as they participate in it for themselves.
