Have you found yourself sacrificing your self-respect and emotional wellbeing for another person (even when they continue to behave badly towards you)?
Does it feel like much of your life has revolved around helping or managing other people and their problems ...with very little time or energy left for yourself?
Do you believe that it's your job to do-all-the-things, meet-all-the-needs, and try to keep everyone happy (even though it's exhausting and never seems to be enough)?
In fact, these (more-common-than-you'd-think) problems are exactly why I created my Bootcamp Intensive! As a therapist working with generous-hearted people (helpers, givers, leaders, empaths, healers, and highly-responsible folks), I kept noticing a common theme arising:
We compassionate-types are often amaaaazing at helping everyone else…but NOT so great at helping our own selves. Sure, we can get away with an unboundaried (and unsustainable) way of living for a while (maybe even a decade...or two or three...) but the end results are often the same:
Dysfunctional patterns we can't seem to break (despite our talents and intelligence!), along with emotional suffering, exhaustion, and hopelessness...
By the way, I was not just making a professional observation. This was personal. Quick to help, trust, and pour myself out for others (even in the face of mistreatment), I found myself “waking up” in my 30’s, realizing an unsustainable unboundaried life was no way to live.
Broken, hurting, with very little understanding of who I really was (or what I even wanted), I knew deep in my bones that this was not how I was meant to live (nor was it the legacy I wanted to pass on to my children). So I dedicated myself to finding a solution. And...a solution is exactly what I found (in the most unexpected and beautiful way):
Boundaries. As in, I discovered what it means to become boundaried. For me, that discovery began to change everything.
As I experienced the steady organic (inward and outward) changes that boundaries brought into my life, I couldn't help but start showing others how to do the same thing...and I witnessed their lives changing, too.
My clients excitedly share so many personal stories of transformation: from improved emotional wellness, healthier relationships, increased self-love and self-worth, and a steady glowing inner peace that had not been there before.
I knew this discovery was not meant to stay tucked away in the snowy woods of Alaska, but little did I imagine the unexpected way in which it would begin to spread...
With credentials that include a Bachelor's of Science in Psychology and a Master's of Science in Community Mental Health, my range of work experiences have included substance use disorder and mental health counseling in outpatient, intensive-outpatient, family, educational, and residential treatment settings, as well as operating in leadership/administrative capacities.
Eventually opening a small private practice, Wild Goose Counseling was soon full (with a wait list of 1-2 years)!
I loved being a counselor and enjoyed my work immensely. As a therapist, I found myself drawn especially to couples counseling and individual adult work, especially healing old childhood trauma wounds using techniques such as EMDR, IFS, and art and experiential therapy techniques.
Additionally, as a fun side-hobby, I taught graduate-level college classes part-time as an adjunct professor, along with developing various workshops and trainings.
MY PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
Cartooning has always been present in my work, in that I've happily doodled on every scrap of paper I could find (ever since I could hold a crayon in my chubby little hand). Over the years, I've sketched many visual lessons, guides, and hand-outs for classes and counseling clients.
I suppose it was only natural that during the covid lock-down, I found myself drawing and posting cartoons online as a way of doing good in the world during such a trying time. The cartoons would become an unexpected hit...
Emboldened by the warm online reception to my cartoons, as well as this strange new thing called "free time" (increasingly available to me as my children began growing up and leaving the nest), I decided that my dreamed-of online boundaries class sharing my unique approach was actually possible...if I'd just do it already.
Thinking it would probably just be a fun side-passion, I was NOT prepared for how the class would steadily grow (nor was I expecting the immediate glowing reviews and transformations)! I would often get off those first initial zoom classes and cry from the joy of it. What powerful and precious experiences -- and with such amazing women from all over the world. There was such magic present, the teachings exponentially expansive thanks to the co-creation of such beautiful healing community.
HOW THE BOUNDARIES BOOTCAMP INTENSIVE WAS BORN:
Also, so much for the bootcamp being "just a little side-passion." Ha! I soon found myself working 7-days-a-week, trying to keep up with the demands of both my counseling practice AND my new boundaries program (don't worry -- the irony was not lost on me).
Knowing that I couldn't keep up such a pace forever, I finally accepted that life was asking me to take a surprising new direction. Yes, I loved being a therapist, but it was time to step more fully into boundaries work, following the call of my deepest passion: to guide people into their own inner revolution through the power of boundaries.
I now run my boundaries program full-time (online) from my ancestral home of Alaska. Working as an educator-guide, my wonderful “students" include social workers, medical providers, business owners, attorneys, teachers, counselors, accountants, managers, artists, stay-home-moms, retirees, and maaany other givers, helpers, and empaths from across the globe, all committed to improving their emotional and relational health.
What a joy this calling is! But, it's not just about the program. To me, becoming boundaried is a movement, a process, and a way of life. That's why I continue to create and give, freely and generously to all who resonate with this message (whether we ever work together or not).
Most mornings, I start my day by creating a new cartoon at my kitchen table, sipping on a cup of coffee, pen in hand, dogs snoring at my feet. I usually don't have a plan for what I will draw. I simply ask my heart what my reader needs to hear that day...and almost immediately an idea appears.
I cartoon for the women who have been disempowered. I doodle for the people who do not yet know there is hope. I create for the exhausted givers, the hurting empaths, and the demoralized helpers (trying so damn hard). I write to you, my friend.
Because you are not alone. There is hope. Boundaries are real. And change is possible. I'm living proof.