I’m Sherry
After experiencing a full on breakdown due to prolonged stress and unprocessed trauma, I was forced to put my life on hold so I could focus on healing my nervous system and rewiring my brain.
Initially it was devastating; I thought that I would never recover my executive functions! It was bad enough to feel like I could no longer be the kind of professional I spent my life defining myself to be, but on top of that, believing myself to be a failed parent was utterly soul destroying. Recovering from that breakdown and finding myself again was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I often wish I knew then what I know now. But I know now that we all have our journey to take; that’s how we grow and evolve.
I want to help people BEFORE they hit that wall.
Now a complex trauma recovery coach for parents and healers, I am passionate about helping clients around the world find peace with the past, hope for the future, and flow in the present. There is nothing wrong with you, you have legitimate reasons for feeling the overwhelm, and you are perfectly capable of building the future that you wish to live. Sometimes we just need a little help, a different perspective, and some practice.
My approach is very down-to-earth, customized, and practical. My clients work on one small thing at a time, creating subtle but deep shifts in their lives. We focus on sustainable and flexible approaches that positively impact their relationships with their children, partners, and parents.
Married, mother of two, I have had nearly 10 years of experience working in Asia and 20 years of management in a rigorous Canadian post-secondary institution, focused on student success and retention.
Find peace with the past, hope for the future, and flow in the present.
My super practical approach takes into account your goals, values, circumstances, and resources (time, finances, and energy). Sessions with me are about meeting you where you are, whatever stage you’re at, to get you to a place where you can face your challenges without crippling self-bashing. Group coaching programs build on the magic of each participant, so we can co-create a safe place to learn awareness, rewire our inherited playbook, practice new skills, and celebrate wins.
Build a team around you to support you to success.
I would be honoured to be on your team. Together, we take into account the trauma and stresses you’ve endured, build on your wins (you have a lot more than you realize, I promise), and help you find your footing back on your journey of healing and growth. Working with me means:
- You will draw upon your own knowledge and lived experiences.
- You will develop confidence in your own judgment and unique approach.
- You will build your support system of likeminded peeps.
- You will learn to have compassion for yourself.
You can do this. I know you can.
My most popular program Unpacking Triggers Program leverages the power of self-paced online learning and magic of live group coaching sessions with likeminded people on a similar journey.
Let’s heal together.
Why Do I Do This?
As a Sandwich Parent, Third Culture Kid, Recovering Shouldaholic, and Untigering Mom, I am passionate about helping people remove that extra layer of stress that can debilitate us and prevent us from living life with flow. Unencumbered by our Shouldaholic tendencies (trauma self, inner child with unprocessed childhood wounds, inner critic, etc.), we can accomplish a lot, live happily in the moment, and work with the universe rather than against. I want you to live the life you want to live.
Who Can I Help?
My clients intellectually know that they would like to do things differently. Often, they have already done courses, read books, done therapy… and they have done a lot of work. However, they are still struggling to feel satisfied with how they are living their lives. It’s a matter of aligning what they intellectually have learned into day to day practice. It’s about aligning their cognitive knowledge with their emotional experience and how they feel somatically.
If this resonates with you, please feel free to book a Discovery Call.
What is a Parent Coach?
A parent coach is a peer parent who believes that the client has their own unique answers and may need support seeking information or seeing different perspectives in order to be the parent that their children deserve. Certified through the Jai Institute for Parenting, parent coaches train to use a peaceful, loving and effective parenting method emphasizing cooperation, awareness and harmony.
A parent coach helps a client get unstuck by focusing in on the impact of their beliefs by asking thought-provoking questions and focusing on client-led solutions. The coach partners with the client to co-create a space where the client can feel hope that things can change, have faith that experiencing discomfort is part of the process towards their goals, and develop tools (based on their unique resources and lived experiences) to get through to the other side.
A parent coach is great if they spark a light for the client to see that they can go where they want to go. An experienced coach can skillfully lead a client into a mind shift, e.g. turning a trigger from an overwhelmingly negative feeling to an opportunity for curiosity, bravery, and honesty.
When we are stuck in a deep hole worried that we will never get out of that hole, a coach is right in there with you, helping you find the specific strategies and tools that will work for you.
My assumption is that you can do this, that you have the answers that work for you, and that you aren’t broken or in need of fixing. I’m here to facilitate the work that you may not have the headspace to sort out – yet, but will! I’m here to support you, be your coach and your cheerleader.
What is a Trauma Recovery Coach?
Certified Trauma Recovery Coaches are rigorously trained and certified through the International Association of Trauma Recovery Coaching, adhering to a stringent Code of Ethics. We work with trauma survivors as peers, mentors, guides and educators with the goal of helping their clients understand the recovery process, reconnect with themselves and the world while using their strengths to build a life they love living.
A coach comes alongside their client to brainstorm, provide information, and examine potential decisions. We know that you are the expert of your life, your circumstances, and the set of personalities you must engage with. Through reflection, unpacking, reframing, and practice, clients can make small shifts in mindset that add up to huge relief as they face challenges with hope and faith, knowing that they are capable, that they have been successful, and that they will get where they need to go.
“A trauma recovery coach is a mental health professional that uses coaching and co-regulation as a modality to support clients in their recovery.”
~ Bobbi Parish (Executive Director, International Association of Trauma Recovery Coaching)
What is Complex Trauma Recovery?
Complex trauma recovery refers to the process of healing from the long-term and severe impacts of traumatic experiences, which may involve interpersonal abuse, neglect, or exposure to violence. Complex trauma can result in a range of mental health difficulties, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dissociation, depression, and anxiety. It can can affect an individual’s ability to form healthy relationships and trust others.
Recovery from complex trauma may involve a combination of modalities, including but not limited to coaching, trauma-focused psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and mindfulness practices. It can also involve addressing the physical impacts of trauma through exercise, healthy eating, and other self-care practices. Recovery from complex trauma is a process that requires patience, support, and a commitment to self-care and healing.
Healing is a very personal and unique experience. What works for one person, may not work for another due to circumstances or stage of healing. Complex trauma recovery coaching includes helping a client find a customized set of support and healing activities. Ultimately, trauma recovery coaching will focus on a reduction in self-judgment and an increase in self-compassion. Our goal will be to align ourselves cognitively, emotionally, and somatically.
What Does a Typical Coaching Session Look Like?
Coaching is a very client-led activity and it’s all about what your goals are, what your resources are (time and energy are relevant), the gap between your expectations and reality, and the extra layer of your internal chatter about that gap. Most of my clients struggle with “Shouldaholicism” where all decisions, thoughts, and actions get filtered through the judgmental trauma lens of should/should not.
We set an intention for our time together. From time to time, there may be an issue or decision that a client wants to focus on for unpacking. Often after a few sessions, many clients tell me that they want to continue the unpacking and rebraiding that we are doing because they can see the progress in many aspects of their lives. There is no pressure to have a specific goal, timeline, or approach to achieve it. This relief from pressure, ironically, has led to more breakthroughs and in shorter times than clients have thought possible.
The core of the session is about Unpacking Triggers: focusing on what is coming up for the client, perhaps taking an incident during the week or reviewing a topic from the previous session. The conversation is client-led sprinkled with my checking in (to reflect, reframe, or help connect the dots). Everyone’s journey is unique as is the stage of our healing. There is no set outcome, but a focus on awareness, values, decision-making processes, emotional literacy, and safety. The result is that we co-create an evolving and expansive approach that is uniquely yours and based on who are you and your previous successes in life.
As we get closer to the end of the session, we loop back to do a check to see how you are feeling and what the takeaways are.
How Does Group Coaching Work?
The group coaching modality is an empowering healing modality. Together, we co-create an emotionally safe environment in which to share, unpack, process, and heal.
In a facilitated virtual environment, participants learn about relational engagement by observing and practicing trauma-informed communication in a group of likeminded people. We practice slowing down trigger moments, pausing, and choosing not to spiral. We hear about the journeys of fellow participants and learn from each other.
The live group coaching calls include coaching with Sherry as well as breakout group support sessions with fellow participants. We heal together from societal expectations and neurotic perfectionism, by drawing on the power of community and safe relationships.
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