About the Coach

Hi, I'm Carissa! I'm known as a bit of an egg-head who always needs to be learning something new. I also love animals, obsess over birds and have a great passion for hoodies.

For decades I struggled with stress and anxiety. I was unhappy, negative and always trying to figure out what I needed to do or who I needed to be in order to find contentment. Unfortunately, I often did the opposite of what might have actually helped me. What I needed was to embrace who I was and stop trying to be someone else, to be more aware of what was good in life, to challenge my own negative thoughts and question many of the unhelpful beliefs that I had adopted from society. I needed to live in the present moment, rather than constantly regret the past and fear the future.

I tried many quick fixes and everything that the bio-medical model had to offer with no positive results (though there were certainly some negative ones!). Finally I experienced complete and utter burn out. This was a painful experience but one for which I am grateful, because it gave me the time and the motivation to look at other ways of managing stress.

I put my studious nature to work and learned everything I could about mindfulness, meditation, yoga, positive psychology and other natural healing practices. Slowly but surely, I began to feel better, more capable of handling challenges and of appreciating the beauty and light that is always present.

My mission now is to help others who are weighed down by stress to find their path to greater peace and well-being. To do this, I combine principles of neuroscience with mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques. I also use a unique psychospiritual approach that explores archetypes and is amazing for getting to the root of patterns and blocks. (Learn more about archetypes.)

I consider myself to be equal parts logical and intuitive, and am equally comfortable in both realms. I believe change is more about subtraction than addition. Once false stories, limiting beliefs, subconscious blocks and inner conflicts are peeled away, solutions arise naturally.

If all that sounds good to you, book a FREE Insight Session and we can see if we're a good fit to work together!

Training

My Life Coach training was completed at the Centre for Applied Neuroscience in Toronto, Ontario in December 2022. This program focussed on neuroscience, mindfulness and positive psychology, all of which inform my current approach.

My previous career was as an ESL teacher, having earned a TESL Certificate from the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, B.C. While I enjoyed the teaching aspect, the subject matter wasn't something I was passionate about, but I do find my teaching skills to be useful when creating materials and online courses.

I have a B.A. from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where I studied English and Psychology. I have always been interested in what makes people tick and the 'whys' of behaviour. This background has actually come in handy when working with the concept of archetypes, which are present in both literature and in psychology (via Carl Jung).

I have completed extra training specifically in understanding & recognizing archetypes and how they show up in our lives through the Caroline Myss Educational Institute.

I guarantee that I'll have more to add to list as time goes on. I have a strong Seeker/Student archetype and I am always learning!