Hello you!
I'm delighted you found your way here.
Kia ora e hoa
Preferentially
Professionally
Narrative Coaching for Practitioners, Centre for Narrative Coaching, 2016
Master of Arts, Coaching & Mentoring (Merit), Oxford Brookes University, 2015
Certified Dr. Martha Beck, 2013
Coaches Training Institute, 2012
Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Administration, Masset University, 2007
Bachelor of Arts, Educational Psychology + Women's Studies, University of Otago, 1995
Philosophically
at heart, i'm a developmental coach
Self-doubt is a protective mechanism that attempts - in complex and sophisticated ways - to hold us back from psychological risk. It finds a squillion different ways to say: don't do that, you might hurt yourself.
We construct narratives about who we need to be to feel safe - to be accepted, to belong - based on our lived experiences. These stories inevitably become fixed and constraining and we end up feeling stuck between our dreams and desires, and the risks they present.
Because self-doubt is a 'developmental dilemma' my approach to coaching is very much interested in exploring how you make sense of your 'self'.
Primarily, my work is about supporting you to feel resourced even when risks are present. We bring self-doubt (Protector) along for the ride, as we develop the capacity of your internal resources (Healthy Adult Self).
Coaching is an ideal container to uncover, understand and heal the unconscious protective beliefs that are in charge, and to support you to develop psychological flexibility to create a life that feels fulfilling and meaningful.
Developmental coaching is quite different from solution-focused or cognitive approaches that focus on goals, behaviour and mindset. Some key aspects of a developmental approach to coaching:
- non-directive exploration of meaning-making
- holistic and addresses the whole person
- addressing long-standing beliefs and challenges
- aim is to increase the broader capacities of clients
- concerned with how we construct our reality and our sense of self
- self is not whole or fixed - it is changeable, contradictory and made of up many parts.
spirtually, I'm curious, discerning and frequently in awe
Since I read fairytales under the covers to keep my childhood insomnia at bay, I've been fascinated by the mythical, magical and mystical.
When I got sober, I became increasingly fascinated by the mystery and the wonder of being awake to all of life. After a near-death experience in 2018, I found myself feeling a bit lost in this dense human world.
In seeking a close, personal relationship with source, galactic family, and spirit guides, I've worked with shamans and seers, tarot readers and astrologists. I've taken psychedelics and channelled a collective energy that shows up on the page.
I don't think any of us are here, now by accident. I'm fascinated by prophecies about this time and place in the lifespan of humanity that feels deeply important. I don't believe we are alone in the universe. I believe Gaia is very much aware of us.
I've recently come back to a daily meditation practice. Surrender is my greatest teacher.
Personally
I am powered by curiosity, kindness and black coffee.
I’m sharing this adventure with Mr P. Ash is my best friend, co-conspirator and favourite human. On paper, we couldn’t be more different, but our conscious, loving, sometimes crazy-making marriage is the thing I am most proud of. I don’t ever want our conversation to be over.
I love our big squishy sofa on a rainy Autumn afternoon. I can’t see a great movie too many times. I’ve travelled to every country in Europe and I still don’t believe in the physics of flight. Home is where my books are.
I believe in the healing power of belly laughs, poetry, bear-hugs, singing loudly while driving alone. And pie.
I’ve come to understand that being alive is an unending meaning-making process of imagination, experimentation and interpretation.
I agree with John Steinbeck: nothing good gets away.
Thanks for being here. I can already tell we’re going to get along bloody marvellously.
Arohanui,
From grieving, burnt out and lost to
finding my way home...
Before I worked with Sas, I felt stuck in a rut and going round in circles, knowing I needed to make change, but being very fearful and confused about what, when and how.
Since we’ve worked together I’ve been able to gain clarity about my situation, take steps to make major change and understand myself a lot better. I have become more of a champion for myself. I cannot recommend Sas highly enough.
Sas has a way of getting you to really think about what is behind the issue and since working with her I have come to terms with things that had been concerning me for years. I have accepted myself for who I am and I feel so much more confident in my own instincts now.
Without any doubt, working with Sas is the best investment I have ever made in myself. Sas is a total master at sensing where the tightest knots really are and then gently but firmly encouraging you to unpick them.
It’s been like adding the final pieces to a puzzle that I’ve been grappling with for years.