I strive to create a safe, confidential online or in-person space for people to explore psychological, spiritual and existential concepts for the purpose of reducing suffering and increasing peace. In 2019, sparked by the turmoil of divorce and emotional crisis, I began the profound process of de-identification from my personality, or egoic mind. This has led to a drastic reduction of all mental and emotional suffering I experience, an increase in feelings of peace and joy, and a deeply comforting sense of connectedness with the world. In addition my intuitive gifts have become more pronounced due to the reduction of thought clutter in my mind. This experience has been so life changing that I left my career as a software developer to pursue a life dedicated to supporting others in healing from the damaging stories and thought patterns we inflict upon ourselves. For as long as I can remember, people have felt comfortable opening up to me about their lives and struggles; even upon my first meeting with someone. I listen, process, share my thoughts and advice to the best of my ability, and it resonates with them leading to clarity and healing. There have been many occasions where I would intuitively receive information about people by simply being in their presence, and later have that information validated as true. I have always been fascinated with the human condition and what contributes to happiness and suffering, but have been afraid to fully embrace my gifts and pursue a life as a healer due to my own negative thought patterns and limiting beliefs. I have struggled with depression, anxiety and various addictions throughout life. Traditional story-focused psychotherapy has helped alleviate the suffering caused by these symptoms to some extent, but over the last several years my healing had become stagnant, like I had hit a ceiling. Many old thought and behavior patterns continued emerging to my helpless frustration. My divorce, compounded by the isolation of covid and reemergence of addictive behaviors sent me into a tail-spin of despair, wondering if I was going to be "broken" forever. It was in this lost and dejected state that a deep part of me knew I needed to do something drastically different if things were going to change. I had to get out of my comfort zone and fully admit to myself that the way I was living my life was not working. I reached out in desperation to a friend who recommended I join him in an addiction recovery group. Previously being a staunch atheist/anti-spiritualist, I was initially very resistant to going because the group was God/spirituality based. But it was in this group that I met some amazing spiritual people that challenged my judgments and exposed me to fascinating concepts about the human ego and how our minds are constantly trying to control and predict life. It was here that I learned the deceivingly simple definition of spirituality as "the opposite of ego"; just logical enough to crack open my overly scientific/analytical mind to a new layer of self-exploration. This resonated deeply with me and sparked an intense curiosity; a feeling like I was getting to the actual root of this problem of feeling "broken". What we traditionally identify as "I", "Me", "Self" or [insert first name] is our personality, or egoic mind. This is a mind-structure created entirely out of thoughts. All of our beliefs, opinions, ideas and expectations about how the world should behave are contained in it and our perception of reality is filtered through it. Our personalities have been programmed into us by the people who raised us, society, and our culture, yet we take our thoughts and emotions so seriously and let them control our lives. Realizing that our personalities are completely arbitrary and inherently limiting has been the most liberating experience of my life. Viewing it as a separate entity within our field of awareness allows us to maintain distance from it when it is being unhelpful, such as when we are caught up in negative thought patterns and stories. We still notice the thoughts, but we don't become them via identification. Our past traumas or future worries are not the root of suffering. The root of suffering is believing we are our thoughts and feelings, thus forgetting our true nature as the fundamental layer of consciousness from which the thoughts and feelings emerge from. This consciousness is who we truly are, and shifting perspective from our personality to this underlying consciousness removes us from so much unnecessary suffering. This shift allows us to create space around our thoughts and emotions and see them as separate from our sense of self, or being. It is akin to watching a dramatic movie, instead of being a dramatic movie. I strive to create a safe, confidential and judgement-free space for people to share their life experiences and identify ways in which suffering can be reduced and peace can be increased. Guided by my intuition, we will explore the above ideas as well as other existential and psychological concepts to create deep, lasting healing. The beauty of this process is truly beyond measure and I offer you my hand and heart in support on this incredible journey.
