From Living in Trauma Response to a Life of Power, Pleasure, and Peace

I grew up in the ’80s with deeply loving, hardworking, entrepreneurial parents who, like most, were simply doing their best with the tools they had. They never had the space to process their own childhood traumas, and their blue-collar work ethic shaped how they viewed life, success, and struggle.

My mother is Indigenous, and my father comes from a colonial settler lineage. His parents considered themselves quite bourgeois, while my mother’s family was humble and poor. Both sides carried immense generational trauma, passing down their burdens in ways that shaped my parents—and, inevitably, me.

The Seeds of My Values and Wounds

From a young age, I instinctively formed my highest values—freedom, health, self-realization, beauty, autonomy, and creativity—as responses to my environment. I believed I was destined to be an artist. My confidence in my creative gifts was unwavering. But as I grew older, I absorbed the belief that artists were “starving” unless they were exceptionally privileged.

As for beauty, I learned early that it held power—but also that I should both covet and feel ashamed of my own. Thanks to my older brothers, I became well-versed in the art of self-deprecation and humor. Humor became a shield. Distraction and dissociation became survival mechanisms. Even then, I carried an unspoken knowing: I was here to heal generational wounds.

The Journey of Self-Healing

Over the years, healing became my lifestyle. I committed myself to the health and integration of mind, body, and spirit, which required radical self-responsibility. True healing meant curiosity, compassion, humility, honesty, ego deaths, detoxification, and doing the hard things—including difficult conversations.

To me, healing is a return to my True Self. This meant deprogramming societal conditioning, unpacking inherited stories, resetting my nervous system, and reclaiming my personal truth. It has taken me 49 years to reach a place where I feel truly rooted in self-worth, love, safety, and security—a level of regulation only deep, embodied healing can provide. And even still, the journey continues.

Motherhood, Entrepreneurship & Burnout

At 19, I became a mother. Raising my daughter as a single mom was its own transformative curriculum, teaching me resourcefulness, resilience, and grit. But during this chapter, I unconsciously lived in my trauma responses—cycling through dissociation, anxiety, chronic pain, and depression.

I medicated with yoga, veganism, goddess gatherings, and Reiki, believing I was healing. But beneath it all, I was still trapped in old patterns, blaming my circumstances—my parents, my brothers, the government, patriarchy, my absent child’s father. While these grievances were valid, my greatest breakthroughs came from moments of forgiveness and radical self-responsibility. The more I asked, “How am I contributing to my own suffering?” the more I freed myself from it.

Later, I started a business, becoming a boss, provider, and leader. For nearly six years, I supported us through sheer will and determination. But success came at a cost. I was overworked. My daughter didn’t get the presence she deserved. I burned out. I endured an abusive relationship, and my mental health crumbled.

In desperation, I sought therapy—EMDR with a psychologist. It was supposed to help. Instead, it broke me open with no safety net. The session unlocked a traumatic childhood memory, but there was no support, no integration. Suddenly, I was four years old again—hypervigilant, anxious, and enraged. My family considered hospitalizing me.

That therapy—intended to heal—re-traumatized me instead. It was a devastating setback, yet ultimately, it ignited a new level of awareness about trauma, the mind, and the broken systems we rely on for healing.

From Bad Therapy to My Life’s Mission

That experience became my "why." It led me into deep research, study, and practice. I learned I had PTSD. I immersed myself in trauma studies, mental health research, and holistic modalities. I explored how colonialism, intergenerational trauma, and systemic oppression had shaped my lineage and my nervous system.

I came to see trauma not as a “disorder” but as a response—what the world calls PTSD, I call PTSR: Post-Traumatic Stress Response. The labels in the DSM-5 can be helpful, but they often pathologize what is actually an intelligent survival mechanism.

At times, the weight of what I learned was overwhelming. Had I known how long and grueling the road to nervous system regulation would be, I might have questioned whether it was even worth it.

But I did persevere.

I turned my pain into purpose. I became dedicated to finding safe, integrative ways to heal trauma.

Walking the Path & Finding My Life’s Work

In the early 2000s, I began leading yoga workshops for trauma healing. Soon after, I became a clinical hypnotherapist, then a coach and counsellor. Over the years, I worked directly with people carrying the heaviest trauma stories imaginable.

I spent nearly two years working in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, witnessing firsthand how trauma erodes the human spirit—but also how healing is possible. Yet, what I saw confirmed a painful truth: the system is not designed to heal people. It uses trauma to sustain itself. It profits off dysregulation.

I realized I could no longer look to the colonial medical-industrial complex for answers. The system doesn’t offer true healing—because true healing dismantles the very foundation it stands on.

My Life’s Mission: Good Therapy, True Healing

I now know what was missing in my own journey—safety, integration, and true support. That is what I now offer my clients. I became the practitioner I needed.

Healing trauma has been like solving a riddle—one that I spent years deciphering through personal experience, study, and practice. I became my own experiment, so I could share what I learned with others.

But here’s the truth: healing is not my entire identity.

At the centre of my life is not trauma—it is joy, creativity, and celebration.

Today, I Live in Power, Pleasure & Peace

My life now is one of balance, autonomy, and deep fulfillment.

It doesn’t mean I have it all figured out, but I am living in alignment. I am living (almost) exactly as that little girl once dreamed—with a big heart, boundless creativity, and a deep connection to something greater than myself.

If you’ve made it this far—thank you for taking the time to read my story.

If any part of it resonates with you, know this: healing is possible. Safety is possible. True Self is waiting for you.

And when you’re ready, I’m here to guide you.