About me
About Me
Hi, my name is Mona. I am a Professional Counsellor.
My healing journey started about 25 years ago and took me down a long and winding path that continues to unfold. It started when I was about 30 and led me to a series of personal empowerment courses over the span of about 10 years, I then moved into some plant medicine work for several years and finally started working with a somatic counsellor and began to see the enormous impact that counselling was having on my life, which led me to end my career in the wellness industry as a Pilates Instructor at age 52 and go back to school to get my Professional Counselling Diploma.
My healing journey has led me to many amazing people to which I will be eternally grateful. At this stage of my life, it became very important to consider what I wanted my next chapter to be about. The next phase of my journey. I wanted to be of service and give others the guidance and support I was provided so many times along my journey. I want to help others understand that it is never too late to start your healing journey. It is always the perfect time to start. I fully believe that at any point in our life, we can make a choice to heal and to do ‘our work’. When we make the choice to do this, we are giving a gift to ourselves and all the people around us- our family, friends, and even people we have not met yet. We are choosing to look at the way we are in the world and work on becoming our next best selves. Once we start, we may realize that we simply want to continue, (with rests of course), along this path.
I believe in life-long learning and love the concept of plasticity. Our brain and our being can change continually, right up until the point that our time on earth is done.
I became interested in personal development and started attending workshops, courses, and seminars. I started to explore who I was, what I wanted from the one beautiful, wildlife, and how I was going to start to go after what I wanted. It really has been a journey.
Life is messy, hard, beautiful, and sad. It will take your breath away at times. I believe one piece of our journey through this life is to learn how to hold it all. The beauty, the sadness, the grief, the bliss, the love, all of it. The work I want to do going forward is to help others heal and hold all of it. I want to help you become aware of it, hold it tenderly, and slowly find your inner strength, wisdom, and knowledge to move through your own healing journey. Supporting you and helping you unravel what is asking to be seen and acknowledged is the work I want to do with the rest of my time. It would be my great honour and privilege to assist you on your healing journey.
I also believe in the deep wisdom of the body and if we are willing to look and lovingly hold what needs to be held and witnessed the body will help us to uncover the deep strength that resides there. It is slow, tender work that asks a lot of each of us, but also grants us so much in return.
My aim is to create a warm, safe environment where you are free to come as you are and feel welcomed and accepted.
I am informed in the following areas: Trauma, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Narrative Therapy, and Somatic, (or body-based therapy).
If this message resonates with you, please click on the link below and let’s book a discovery call to see if we are a good fit for each other. It would be a pleasure to connect.
Coaching:
I also enjoy coaching and have a Life-Skills Coaching Certificate. Coaching can be defined as, “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
Coaching is a collaborative relationship between a trained coach and a client looking for self-discovery, self-awareness and a deeper sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Coaching happens in an environment where clients can freely express their emotions, be profoundly heard, manage their internal blocks, clarify their intentions and desires, and become more self-directed.
Coaches are trained in fundamental skills including listening, empathy, cultivating insightful reflections and asking powerful questions. Coaches use a variety of tools and techniques to help clients brainstorm and think differently.
Whether your goals are counselling or coaching specific my aim is to create a safe, warm environment where you feel heard, seen, acknowledged, and accepted for the unique and amazing individual that you are.
Sessions are client-centered with each client being held with unconditional positive regard, compassion, dignity, and respect.
If this resonates with you please book a free 15-minute discovery call and we can see if we are a good fit for one another.
My Values
Authenticity: I strive to show up fully for every client as my authentic self. It is important as we walk through our life journey that each of us is fully seen for who we are and honoured in that way. My commitment to my clients is to show up as me and I encourage you to show up as your true, authentic self.
Autonomy: This basically means the ability to make our own decisions without being controlled by anyone else. What this means to me is that only you know what is best for you. Deep inside at your essence, you know. I can walk alongside you and support you, but only you know what is best for you, just like I know what is best for me. For some of us, learning to listen to ourselves at a deep level and trusting the information given is a profound, life-changing gift.
Balance: I have learned over the years that balance is very important and this usually looks different for everyone. My story contains repeated stages of burnout throughout my many jobs and many stages of my journey. I understand better why that happened to me and how to listen to my body so that it does not happen again or at least I catch it sooner. It is important to consider what we do every day to take care of ourselves? What is the right balance of work and play? This is also linked to the understanding that this balance changes as we move through different stages of life. Nothing is static in nature, and nothing is static in each of us. What balance looks like is very dependent on what is happening in our lives. Balance is very nuanced.
Laughter: Laughter is good medicine. I learned this from my maternal grandmother. No matter what was happening in her life, she often found humor and laughter within it. It has been my experience that when I find the humor in a situation, or something just allows me to burst into laughter my perspective on things changes. It often feels good in my soul and reminds me that it is very easy to take life too seriously and a good belly laugh can change our perception and response to situations that arise. Fun fact; any type of laughter helps to decrease the stress response in the body.
Passion: It has been my experience that when we are passionate about something it no longer seems like work. Hours can go by, and we barely notice. When we are passionate about our purpose, we can move through life operating in this place of knowing why we are doing what we are doing. It helps each of us to push a little when we are tired, worn out, and exhausted. I also think we can discover or re-discover our purpose at any age and stage of our lives. Maybe we have a purpose that fulfils us for a while and then it doesn’t fuel us anymore and we are drawn to re-discovery what lights us up and fuels our fire. This may happen several times over the lifespan as we continue to grow and expand, we change.
Nature: I love nature and find time in nature to be very healing. I spend time walking in nature every day and find this experience to be very therapeutic. Time in nature can be an inexpensive way to provide healing for yourself, surrounding yourself with the trees, animals, sounds, smells, and many sensory experiences can allow healing at a very deep level in my personal experience. It is also a bonus that it is free. You simply have to find a tree to sit under, a brook to sit beside, or a path to follow.