More About My Background

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I spent 10 years at the University of Waterloo in Canada specializing in dance, creative movement, holistic education (Honours BA Dance), mind-body science (MSc Kinesiology), and developmental and clinical neuropsychology (PhD Psychology). I later also completed training in UW's Peace and Conflict Studies program with a focus on conflict resolution in families. In 2006, I began working in private practice supporting the psychological and relational wellbeing of parents and their families. 

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Mindfulness and meditation became integral to my work and personal growth upon discovering giftedness and twice-exceptionality. Eventually I began focusing on the intersectionality of mindfulness and giftedness, curating knowledge, skills and experience in ways that were outside of traditional education. This was an experiential, embodied way of learning that I integrated, and continue to work from, in expanding mindfulness-based practices to support the multifaceted needs of gifted and twice-exceptional adults.  

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I have studied and trained extensively in various traditions – from Zen, insight meditation, and Unified Mindfulness to Mindful Self-Compassion, trauma-sensitive mindfulness, somatic experiencing and focusing. My core practice is rooted in the Zen tradition where I have received teaching transmission in the lineage of Tongdosa in South Korea. I have also completed training in The Work that Reconnects and Spiral Work in the lineage of Joanna Macy and am influenced by the engaged, deep ecology work of both Joanna Macy and Thich Nhat Hanh. 

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Since starting the Community of Practice in 2019, I have been exploring feminine and depth psychologies through a gifted lens. I am currently completing formal training in Jungian and post-Jungian clinical studies, as well as therapeutic dreamwork, to develop an experiential understanding of the gifted psyche and depth-oriented modalities to support gifted development. This work includes training in the lineage of Marion Woodman and has illuminated the importance of both mindfulness practice and gifted development integrating the instinctive, intuitive, unconscious, and trans-rational elements of our being into conscious awareness. I continue to integrate these often repressed aspects of giftedness into the GMC offerings and will be offering Embodied Depth Work starting in early 2024 to support this.     

 

In addition to the GMC, I maintain a private coaching practice near Toronto, Canada where I live with my family. You can learn more about my private practice here and my journey to embracing mindfulness as a gifted adult here. You can also learn more about our partner organization, InterGifted, here.