About Awakening Counseling & Coaching

Questions and answers about my counseling & coaching practice and my cancer journey.

Why did you create Awakening Counseling and Coaching?

I created Awakening Counseling & Coaching to support people affected by cancer as well as those who are experiencing other types of life crises, transitions, or challenges. I know first-hand how hard cancer is. My experience with cancer also gives me the ability to understand and work with the challenges of other types of life crises in a unique way. I also know from personal experience that the journey through cancer and other hard times can be made easier with counseling. I wanted to use my body of knowledge gained from a very difficult time in my own life to help people to suffer less.

What was your own cancer journey like and how did you cope?

I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 1999. Before then, I had always been healthy and active, so the diagnosis was shocking to me, especially since I was 31 years old at the time. I underwent surgery and a bone marrow biopsy for diagnosis, and then chemotherapy for 7 months for treatment. I say that I had a “full” cancer experience because I experienced many of the physical and emotional side effects that can accompany cancer treatment. I dealt with hair loss, pain, nausea, and mental, physical, and spiritual exhaustion. I coped with the fears of those around me that I would die, as well as my own fears of death and suffering. It was a traumatic time in my life, but I think I had an easier time than I might have otherwise because of my own counselor. She helped me to learn that I could not control cancer, but I could respond. We worked together to find ways to help me to manage and cope with the experience, both during treatment and afterward.

I had to find my own way of coping with the cancer experience. Sometimes this meant that I had to filter out some of the advice and information that well-meaning people were giving me. The most helpful words my counselor said to me were, “There is no right or wrong way to do cancer.” I had been trying to cope everyone else’s way, and when I figured out what I needed to do to get through the experience and gave myself permission to do it, things were much less of a struggle. Now I am passionate about helping people find their own way of coping, and making this difficult experience easier. Now my counselor’s words (I can’t take credit for them!) have become part of my guiding beliefs in my own work with others.

I also found ways to continue doing the things that I loved and that gave my life meaning. For example, I had been singing in a band and although I had lost my hair, I continued to perform publicly. I would put on my wig, and although I felt a little self-conscious, I got on stage and sang. I focused on the singing, the music, and the band instead of how I looked. When I was doing something I loved, I was able to stay present and really be in the moment…I could forget that I was sick. Throughout that time in my life, I found it difficult at times to not be thinking of cancer constantly, but when I was doing things that were fun or meaningful for me, I wasn’t thinking about cancer. So I did the things I loved so that I wouldn’t forget that cancer did not define me…I wasn’t a “cancer patient” but a person living with cancer, who still had a life.

Humor and laughter were always part of the process. Sometimes other people wouldn’t get the joke, but it didn’t matter. Cancer isn’t funny, but some of the things that happen when you’re going through it…well, you kind of have to laugh at them.

Also, I talked. I talked a lot. I talked at support groups, with my counselor, to my friends, to my family, and sometimes to people I hardly knew, if they would listen. Somehow saying the things out loud that were going on in my head was the most helpful thing for me. I found people who could listen to my deepest fears and my saddest feelings. Somehow, even through my darkest moments I would come around to being able to put one foot in front of the other and face the next day. Being able to talk things through made cancer less painful for me. I realize that not everyone needs to talk as much as I did, but I have learned that many people with cancer do. That’s why I’m such a big believer in counseling…for everyone, not just those affected by cancer. I am a living example that counseling works, as I utilized my own counselor to the fullest during my cancer journey and have grown personally from our work.

How did you get into counseling and coaching?

I always knew I was supposed to be in the helping professions. I started my career with a bachelor’s degree in education as an 8th grade classroom teacher. I taught adult education classes in addition to my regular teaching job, and found that I really enjoyed working with adults. So I went on to work with unemployed adults, teaching academic subjects and doing career counseling. Different aspects of counseling continued to weave their way into my professional roles….especially after I became involved with the Cancer Community Center in South Portland, Maine. I had gone to the support groups there when I had cancer, and they were life-changing. I couldn’t believe there was a place that attended to the emotional needs of people with cancer. After my treatment was over, the Center was expanding their programs and looking for someone to manage their volunteer services. My experience fit and I was hired. During my tenure I was fortunate enough to work with many cancer survivors, learning first-hand how people managed and coped with the cancer journey in their own ways.

Because I loved the counseling/support aspect of my jobs so much, I decided I would go back to school for counseling and psychology. Once I was done with school, I knew it was time to start a practice to support people who had been through what I had been through. It was like it was choosing me, instead of me choosing it.

What is your professional background and formal education?

I have spent over 17 years in a diverse array of professional roles in the human services field that I feel have all contributed to my work now. As mentioned above, in addition to my counseling and coaching work, I have been a classroom teacher, workshop facilitator and trainer, career counselor, and program director. One of my most rewarding professional experiences has been my work with the many cancer survivors and volunteers at the Cancer Community Center in South Portland, Maine in my position as Manager of Volunteer Services. During my tenure there, I helped to create the Buddy Program, a volunteer peer-support program, which has since grown into a state-wide resource for people affected by cancer.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in education and Master’s degree in Psychology and Counseling with an area of concentration in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. My credentials include LCPC-C licensure in the state of Maine and I am board eligible for NCC certification from the National Board of Certified Counselors.

How do you see your role as a counselor and coach?

I see my roll as that of a trusted guide–to help you find your way. I think of the analogy of a wilderness guide. Wilderness guides provide direction and show the way through terrain unknown to you, as they have gone there before and know the territory. I see my role as much the same–to provide guidance through the unknown territory of cancer; I will accompany you through the hard times and together we will find a way through challenges. I will help you navigate the changes in your body, mind, and emotions. I will teach you how to use certain tools and strategies, coach you in using these strategies as you try them yourself, and encourage and support you when things get rough. I will help you regain your footing when you are slipping. And when we come across an area that neither of us has seen before, I will help you to locate the resources you need to get to the other side.

Now that you know more about me, click here to find your Free Resources.

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