I believe one moment can change the entire course of your life – the key is that the right teachers show up when you’re ready.  I can only say this from my own experience. I feel I slept through my life for the first 40 years looking to find an answer on the outside. I was taught at an early age that if you work hard enough, stay positive, and block out the difficult – anything is possible. And yet through those years, there was always this ache inside that all the external accomplishments and rewards could not ease. It was as if I was living my life to make others happy and had no idea how to feel content.  

You see, As a kid I lived an adventurous life on the outside; traveling to foreign countries, meeting diverse cultures in Central and South America and Pacific Islands – and on the inside suffered the severe trauma of living with a parent with severe mental illness which sent our family on a whirlwind of devastation and suffering. There were countless times I tried to describe and vent to others only to be left feeling misunderstood and unheard.

I was a nonbeliever in therapy till the age of 40 where I wanted to start a journey to understand the impact of my upbringing.

 On this journey, I helped Kiwi families at a 24-hour suicide Lifeline Center. It was here I realized that most clients calling were simply struggling in their relationships and needed support to just be heard. It was here I studied the work of Carl Rogers who was a mentor in the ’50s – he believes that humans can transcend anything as long as they have positive self-regard and emotional support from another.