My Journey
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I am where I am for a reason.
I believe we are all on a unique journey through experiences - good and bad - that bring our individual traits to light. By acknowledging and embracing those traits, we open ourselves to discovering what fulfillment is for us and what we need to feel happy, content and at peace.
My calling and purpose as a therapeutic counsellor developed through my own journey, personal experiences and awakening, which included struggles with self-harm in my teens, an eating disorder, and addictions. I have traveled through darkness and light and back again to find a balance of both. I no longer try to get rid of any part of myself; I have learned to embrace and love all of who I am. The healing from all of my experiences - the recovery process - is what allowed me to find and accept who I am.
"Taunya has an amazing heart and genuniely cares for those who she works with. She helped me gain amazing insights into dark places in my soul which I would never have had the bravery to venture into without her help."
- B.C.
The spark that ignited my passion
My path to becoming a counsellor ignited from an experience in 1997 while working as a backcountry guide in British Columbia. I was guiding a woman through the West Coast Trail. She was excited, confident and eager, tackling the first 20 kms of trail without issue. Suddenly, in one particular section, she found herself stuck and frozen with fear on a ladder 200 feet in the air. The powerful force that fear had on my dear client intrigued me. It seemed to come out of nowhere. As we negotiated her inner power and areas that had her "stuck", she began to trust herself again and moved slowly down the hundreds of rungs to the safety of the ground below. Strikingly, what then emerged was the repression she felt under her husband's controlling watch. Later, she wrote to tell me that she went home and chose to no longer tolerate the unwanted behaviour from her husband and to step into her own strength. The result was a new, more lovingly relationship between the two of them. Her journey sparked my passion to discover how facing our own "impossibilities" can move us dramatically into truly living.
Awakening to a new career
With a growing interest in the human psyche, I pursued psychology at the University of Calgary and later chose Clearmind International to complete my counselling path. I entered their three-year experiential Transpersonal Counselling Psychology Program and awoke my soul by using my own life as my curriculum, healing my wounds and examining my experiences - the very things that I do with my clients now!
In 2006, I became certified in Personality Dimensions™ and began facilitating corporate group workshops and couples private sessions. Today, I focus on supporting adults, parents, adolescents and couples who feel "stuck" and frustrated by circumstances to find their path to fulfillment and purpose.
Counselling and therapy training
Personal journey experiences
“If you've done what you've always done, you'll get what you always get."
I believe we are all on a unique journey through experiences - good and bad - that bring our individual traits to light. By acknowledging and embracing those traits, we open ourselves to discovering what fulfillment is for us and what we need to feel happy, content and at peace.
My calling and purpose as a therapeutic counsellor developed through my own journey, personal experiences and awakening, which included struggles with self-harm in my teens, an eating disorder, and addictions. I have traveled through darkness and light and back again to find a balance of both. I no longer try to get rid of any part of myself; I have learned to embrace and love all of who I am. The healing from all of my experiences - the recovery process - is what allowed me to find and accept who I am.
"Taunya has an amazing heart and genuniely cares for those who she works with. She helped me gain amazing insights into dark places in my soul which I would never have had the bravery to venture into without her help."
- B.C.
The spark that ignited my passion
My path to becoming a counsellor ignited from an experience in 1997 while working as a backcountry guide in British Columbia. I was guiding a woman through the West Coast Trail. She was excited, confident and eager, tackling the first 20 kms of trail without issue. Suddenly, in one particular section, she found herself stuck and frozen with fear on a ladder 200 feet in the air. The powerful force that fear had on my dear client intrigued me. It seemed to come out of nowhere. As we negotiated her inner power and areas that had her "stuck", she began to trust herself again and moved slowly down the hundreds of rungs to the safety of the ground below. Strikingly, what then emerged was the repression she felt under her husband's controlling watch. Later, she wrote to tell me that she went home and chose to no longer tolerate the unwanted behaviour from her husband and to step into her own strength. The result was a new, more lovingly relationship between the two of them. Her journey sparked my passion to discover how facing our own "impossibilities" can move us dramatically into truly living.
Awakening to a new career
With a growing interest in the human psyche, I pursued psychology at the University of Calgary and later chose Clearmind International to complete my counselling path. I entered their three-year experiential Transpersonal Counselling Psychology Program and awoke my soul by using my own life as my curriculum, healing my wounds and examining my experiences - the very things that I do with my clients now!
In 2006, I became certified in Personality Dimensions™ and began facilitating corporate group workshops and couples private sessions. Today, I focus on supporting adults, parents, adolescents and couples who feel "stuck" and frustrated by circumstances to find their path to fulfillment and purpose.
Counselling and therapy training
- Clearmind International, Transpersonal Psychology for Counselling
- Bowens' Family System Theory
- Roger's Person Centered Therapy
- Gestalt Therapy
- Attachment Theory, Dr. Gordon Neufeld and Dr. Gabor Maté
- Gottmans' Relationship and Parenting Models Level 1 and Level 2
- Sue Johnson's Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples and Individuals, Externship
- Accelerated Resolution Therapy, Basic, Advanced and Enhanced levels
Personal journey experiences
- I was the first female backcountry guide on the West Coast Trail of Canada to run corporate trips. Having completed the trail 21 times, I learned to face myself in many different ways each time.
- I worked in the medical industry prior to having children. The experience confirmed the fulfillment I feel by helping others.
- As an Ironman athlete, I completed four Ironman Triathlon races. Each one helped me awaken and learn about self regulation.
- I am a registered yoga teacher.
- I have two children with my ex-husband and have faced the ups and downs of marriage, separation and parenting. I know firsthand that even the most serious relationship struggles with your spouse, ex or kids can be confronted and conquered.
- I am re-married, this time to a woman! Let me tell you: I have perspective!
“If you've done what you've always done, you'll get what you always get."
