About me
I am a personal meaning and mindfulness coach, eTutor and teacher, currently living in Cape Town, South Africa. My interests range from mindfulness meditation to discovering meaning and purpose, Viktor Frankl, and compassion. I am engaged in a PHD study on mindfulness and discovering meaning, with trauma sufferers.
I equip individuals to overcome challenges and life difficulties, guiding them to greater fulfillment and enrichment in their work and personal lives. My work is designed to help others reduce their stress through meditation and mindfulness. I am a long-time trainer, lecturer, and business soft skills coach, focusing on: Train the Trainer, Stress Management, Conflict Management, Negotiation, Diversity, and Achieving Consensus, among other topics. I am a university etutor for training teachers in Life Orientation and Adult Basic Education.
I have a Master of Education degree, cum laude and the research entailed a qualitative study of the Rudolf Steiner Approach to education and a case study of a Waldorf School. I am currently pursuing a PHD in Psychology. My research focuses on trauma and post-traumatic stress, and on the benefits of discovering meaning and practicing mindfulness in improving life circumstances. Proposed Research Title:
From Frozen Space to Meaning. A Psycho-Educational Intervention Among a Group of PTSD and/or Trauma Sufferers Based on Mindfulness and the Work of Viktor Frankl.
I am an International Affiliate of the Society for Humanistic Psychology.
I have completed several courses on mindfulness and meditation, and have practiced meditation for more than 14 years. Life adventures have taken me on journeys to India, where I attended Buddhist teaching, and Thailand, where I had exposure to Vipassana meditation practices. I have been fortunate to have had meditation training from various monks in contexts both abroad and in South Africa. I have also been exposed to Coaching with Compassion through the course: Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence. I am currently completing the unique Emotion Coaching training. I have also completed several courses with the US Department of Veterans Affairs, among others:
Independent Coursework:
Compassion Fatigue Resiliency Programme - Traumatology Institute
Psychological First Aid (PFA) - The National Child Traumatic Stress Network - Interactive post disaster scene training
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 101 - What is PTSD? US Department of Veterans Affairs
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 101 - Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapies - US Department of Veterans Affairs
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 101 - Complimentary and Alternative Medicine - US Department of Veterans Affairs
I am the mother of three daughters and currently live in a small town in the Western Cape in South Africa. I love animals and like to spend my time exploring the beauty of the West Coast. In my spare time I like to write and have recently published my first audio short story: Belongings in the Sand.
Coaching with me
RESULTS & GOALS
I equip individuals to overcome challenges and life difficulties, guiding them to greater fulfillment and enrichment in their work and personal lives. My work is designed to help others reduce their stress through meditation and mindfulness. I am also a personal meaning coach focused on helping you overcome difficult times.
HOW I LIKE TO COACH
I coach with compassion and customise the coaching to each client's needs.
OFFERINGS
Please feel free to visit
my shop to see the details of my offerings.
ONLINE COACHING
I offer coaching online via Skype.
Experience, Certifications and Training
CERTIFICATIONS AND DEGREES
- Master of Education
- Compassion Fatigue Resiliency Programme - Traumatology Institute
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 101 - What is PTSD? US Department of Veterans Affairs
- Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence - Identity Verified Certificate
- Certificate - Mindfulness and Meditation in Psychotherapeutic Practice
- Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
- Logotherapy - Introduction
- Bachelor of Arts: Psychology and English
PROFESSIONAL AND LIFE EXPERIENCE
Having encountered Dr Viktor Frankl in studying the Introductory course in Logotherapy at the University of South Africa, (UNISA), in 2012 and meeting Dr Teria Shantall at the workshop, I discovered my own vehicle to unfolding my meaning. At the time I was not sure how this would unfold. I really wanted to become a Logotherapist, but was not in the financial position to continue with the other courses offered at UNISA. In the time since then I have been in the process of paring down, which began with the letting out of my home. I moved in with my sister and then into a tiny “cupboard†as I put my house on the market, sold it and waited for my funds to come through. During this time of waiting and paring down, I worked on a fictional short story: Belongings in the Sand: The Tale of the Red Heeled Shoes, which I learnt how to publish as an ebook through Amazon, together with an audio version.
As I struggled with the confines of the small space and many disruptions and lack of peace and quiet while living in my “cupboardâ€, I came to the idea to do a PHD to work with sufferers of trauma and PTSD. The underlying inspiration for this came from my relationship with Brett Pelser, who suffered so from depression and what I feel was PTSD. Finally and tragically he committed suicide. The idea also is deeply inspired by Logotherapy and Viktor Frankl. I really feel that trauma sufferers experience an existential crisis, their world no longer makes sense, they have no language to speak this senselessness, this schism in their very being and at the heart of their lives. My journey has taken me across the country to the Western Cape, which has the highest trauma statistics in the country. I have been accepted to do this PHD through UNISA and the Psychology Department. My proposal has been accepted and approved and I am staying in the moment, being positive and looking forward to new opportunities. A new life, a revealing and unfolding, the time is now.
During this time I also partnered with Avanoo and created the 30-day online program called Calming the Storm, to help those going through difficult times and to guide them to discover their own meaning and purpose.
“I GO TO SEEK A GREAT PERHAPSâ€
This quote resonates with me and the words are said to be the last words of Franciois Rabelais, although there is some controversy about this. My journey in all ways is towards uncovering/discovering the “great perhapsâ€. My wish especially for those who really need it, who are suffering or in pain in some way, is for them to discover their “great perhapsâ€, which in the words of Viktor Frankl is unique to you:
“…meaning must be found and cannot be given.†(1975, p. 112).
Frankl, V. E. (1975). The Unconscious God: Psychotherapy and Theology. New York: Simon and Schuster. (Originally published in 1948 as Der unbewusste Gott. Republished in 1997 as Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning.)
Fee description
Fees:
from $25 USD to $250 USD
US25 per 30 minute session.
