Welcome to Life Sparks Coaching…
Where I weave a blend of specialized services to support your healing, offer companionship during adverse times, model nervous system regulation, and teach strategies for overcoming anxiety and depression. My goal is to empower you at overhauling lifetime challenges and aligning core truths stored in your body with the resolute fierceness of your mind and heart’s longing for healing. When we build staying power to move through our worst fears, in a caring and supportive environment, we optimize physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing… impactful skills for a lifetime.
Life Coaching & Hypnotherapy
Hypnosis is a heightened state of concentration that leads to relaxation and alertness by increasing your relationship to mind and body. When we optimize attention to narrowed areas of focus we do our best change work— cutting through procrastination, fast-tracking critical decisions, extinguishing addictions and phobias. When you’re turned on for positive action, coaching of any sort yields lasting results. My style of Integrative Life Coaching takes on whatever you bring to session. Together we explore solutions and realistic goals. Hypnosis reinforces your efforts by unlocking lost memories, liberating you from stuck patterns, and giving you greater control to achieve personal goals. I provide ideas and resources while you determine the pace and direction. I do not prescribe best practices, I simply invite you to do deep noticing in a supportive environment. Click or tap to read more about my approach to life coaching and hypnotherapy.
COMPASSIONATE INQUIRY®
Imagine yourself softening into new possibilities. Holding compassion for ourselves, without harsh judgement and limiting beliefs, is a game changer for inviting our heart’s longings to surface. In this approach, you are in the driver’s seat about what you want to change and where you seek support. When guided to notice old coping behaviors, our conditioned thinking and routine self-talk is more glaringly obvious. Exposing core beliefs like, “I’m not good enough,” or “My self-worth depends on helping others,” or “I am all alone in the world…” allows other possibilities to emerge. The beauty of releasing old behaviors and beliefs is that new choices show up and changes can be approached with less resistance and self-criticism. The stress we put on ourselves slows down and any sense of struggle or striving after relaxes. This is when we do our best learning, our emotional intelligence is strengthened, and we find more supportive ways for envisioning life dreams and who we want to be.
The approach of Compassionate Inquiry®, developed by Gabor Mate and Sat Dharam Kaur, is about breaking attachments to old identities still driving our life story. “In a Compassionate Inquiry session the therapist doesn’t try to be ‘someone’ to his/her client; instead of advising, fixing or teaching, what is offered is presence, compassion, curiosity and attention. Likewise, the patient doesn’t have to demonstrate anything to the therapist or fit into his or her preconceptions or expectations. When they are equal in that shared space, a profound exchange happens which leads to transformation. It is something beautiful, magical and a privilege to witness.” Sat Dharam Kaur, co-founder Compassionate Inquiry®
In my own healing, Compassionate Inquiry has taught me new possibilities for living with autoimmune symptoms and chronic pain. By lowering my defenses around friends and family, I am more transparent about my physical abilities and no longer feel enslaved to a diagnosis. This has opened my eyes to alternative ways of living with a challenging physical condition. I have also let go of the fight and struggle metaphor I once understood as “resilience”. By restoring safety in my body I tell a different story about the origins of my condition. One in which I no longer blame myself and peace and lovingkindness are my guide posts for wellbeing.
Somatic Experiencing (SE)® & Trauma-Informed Therapy
Developments in neuroscience and alternative healing inspire my approaches to SE and hypnotherapy. Trusting your body’s intuitive wisdom and ability to heal is essential to making healthy changes. It starts with slowing down the fast pace of life. For more information about my approach to SE, click here. This is the invitation I weave into all of my work. It became the cornerstone of how I practice therapy after healing from serious ailments myself. Fortunately, I learned that a lot of physical symptoms like migraines, seizures, hypothyroidism, and osteoarthritis can be turned on and off– halting the lethal effects of stress on our bodies, and potentially sparing us from auto-Immune conditions. When you heed the invitation to slow down, what’s gone missing in life comes into sharp focus and your nervous system gets a reboot. Everyone is wired differently so learning best practices for responding to stress is the key to recovering energy, inspiration, and peace.
Sex Therapy & Relationships
Our bodies know when we’re running on empty. Basic needs for safety, love and affection get short-changed and primary relationships grow strained. As sensual beings, humans thrive on touch, kindness, and social engagement. Play is as critical to adult well being, as to child growth and development. Sex or pleasuring in the erogenous zones, entertaining erotic fantasies— flirting, sexting, even fashion choices — are all forms of adult play. When we find beauty in life, sharing it with intimate partners optimizes delight and mutual wellbeing. Unpacking what keeps your vitality stuck or muted is where the conversation begins in couple’s therapy. The time is ripe for relationship repair and refreshment.