How I Work

What’s It Like to Work With Awakening Counseling & Coaching?

On this page you’ll see the kind of benefits and results you can get when you work with me, and get a sense of my guiding beliefs and my approach to working with people.

You’ll also find out why Awakening Counseling & Coaching is such a unique counseling practice in the field. With my personal experience with cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship, and my professional experience that includes work with hundreds of cancer survivors, I offer you expert assistance in navigating the cancer journey. Read on to find out more.

Client Benefits & Results

You get help creating a new framework for your life when the bottom drops out. You will awaken to your own natural resiliency and reclaim the courage you have inside that will enable you to put one foot in front of the other and put the pieces of your life back together when you feel like you’re falling apart.

You gain assistance in making the quality of your life the best it can be, despite illness. You will manage the challenges and difficulties that accompany cancer while we center our attention on what remains true and unwavering inside you when everything else seems to be constantly changing around you.

You will feel empowered to navigate the cancer, post-cancer, or care-giving journey in a way that works for you. You will dispel myths about the cancer experience. You will get practical guidance to deal with unknown territory by someone who has been there.

You will experience relief from feeling overwhelmed and fearful. You will take charge over the things you can so that you feel more in control of the process. You will learn to use strategies that match your style of grieving to more effectively cope with feelings of loss and move through periods of grief more easily. You will learn techniques to help you live with fear of the unknown and cope with fear as it arises. You will have a place to “tell the story”–to talk about the challenges you are encountering, sort out what’s going on inside you and around you.

You will feel less isolated. You will feel completely understood by someone who truly “gets it,” like someone is beside you accompanying you along the way. You will feel enabled to help other people to understand what you’re going through and how they can support you better. You will identify and work toward resolution of relationship issues and communicate more easily with loved ones, so that you can create a support system that works for you.

You will learn specific strategies and approaches to manage the various aspects of the journey, including the rollercoaster of emotions, the changes in your mind and body, and the bombardment of information, advice, and reactions you get on a daily basis.

What Makes Awakening Counseling & Coaching Unique?

What makes Awakening Counseling & Coaching unique is my personal and professional experiences. My professional experiences include over 17 years in human services professions in a variety of roles, including counselor, teacher, trainer, program director, and workshop facilitator. Throughout my career I have worked with people from all walks of life, helping them to reach their goals. My background in education as well as counseling gives me a unique perspective in that I am interested in helping you to learn how to be your own counselor and coach, so that you don’t have to use my services forever.

I had a cancer diagnosis over 8 years ago, so I can understand the feelings and challenges that accompany the experience. I also have experience working with many cancer survivors and family members and they have taught me so much about what helped them to cope and manage the cancer, post-cancer, and caregiver journey. So my knowledge base on cancer-related issues is much more vast than that of other general counseling and coaching practitioners. I believe that my personal and professional experiences give me the unique capability to fully understand the challenges of a major life crisis and to skillfully and compassionately help people navigate the journey with cancer or other life transitions.

I had a “full” cancer experience. I consider my cancer experience to have been “full” because I experienced many of the physical and emotional side effects that can accompany cancer and its treatment. For example, I have lost my hair, so I can show you how to wear turbans and head wraps in a comfortable yet stylish way. I have had chemotherapy, so I can share first-hand strategies that helped me cope with treatment. I have experienced the emotional ups and downs that can accompany cancer treatment and survivorship, so I can help you learn ways to manage them that work.

I am able to hear stories of struggle and pain in a way that validates and empowers people. I have found that I have a great capacity to sit with people through tremendous pain and struggle. Many people affected by cancer feel that they have to “protect” other people in their lives by holding back their feelings and thoughts about what they are going through, so that others don’t get more upset. When working with me, you will feel free to discuss your deepest fears and hopes, your truest feelings, without the concern about whether or not the person you are talking to can “handle it.”

I have personally used the approaches that I help others to learn. My knowledge and experience with mindfulness practices and approaches to dealing with hardship have served me well throughout my cancer experience and I teach these techniques to others regularly.

I am “down to earth.” Often people who don’t think they would like to go to counseling find that they benefit from my practical approach and ability to relate to people from all walks of life.

Guiding Beliefs

I believe that there is no right or wrong way to “do” cancer. We each need to find our own way of coping with cancer. I help you to find your way, so that you don’t have to suffer needlessly.

I believe in each person’s resilience. No matter how scared, sad, frustrated, or angry we get, I believe that with some help, we can always find our inner strength to pull us through. I believe that people can make sense of suffering and find meaning in the struggle.

I believe people can grow stronger through this life changing experience. Together we can get to the heart of your values, purpose, and meaning that cancer can’t touch so that you can gain a sense of your true self again.

I believe in helping you cultivate hope for healing. Healing relationships and parts of our “self” is always possible, even when a physical “cure” is not.

I believe that, although cancer is not funny, humor is part of the coping process. I sit with people through tears and anger, but also laughter. Sometimes humor about cancer or treatment is only something another cancer survivor can understand.

My Approach

I become your guide and ally–someone to help you find your way through the cancer experience. I will accompany you through the rough times, help you regain your footing when you are slipping, and celebrate with you when you discover something new. My role is to provide a safe environment in which I can support you, assist you in sorting through your thoughts and feelings, and to help you learn and practice approaches that will make the journey easier.

I appreciate that you are an individual. What is important to me is what you want to gain out of the counseling and coaching process. It’s about your life, your expectations, and we work together toward reaching them.

You are in complete control. Some clients need only a few sessions to achieve their goals; others may require longer. As a client, you are in complete control and may end our counseling/coaching relationship at any time. You also have the right to refuse or discuss modification of any techniques or suggestions that you believe might not be helpful.

I offer a flexible approach. Counseling consists of sessions that focus on your individual situation. The agenda for each session is driven by what’s coming up in your life currently. Coaching consists of education and ongoing guidance about particular topics (See Services page). With coaching, you will gain clarity about what is happening in these areas and learn strategies and tools to manage and cope. You may choose a counseling or coaching approach or a combination…again, you are in control of the process.

Now that you know more about How I Work, read more about my Services.

To schedule a session, or set up an initial phone consultation at no charge, call me at 207-773-1143, email at dawn @ awakeningcounseling.com, or fill out the form on the Contact Me page.