How I work:                                                      

• I work with individuals, couples, families and larger groups in the moment -- in the Now.  While we all have many life experiences, both joyful and painful, and it is important to explore these life events to understand more of who we are -- or rather who we take ourselves to be -- I encourage people to bring their awareness into the present moment as much as possible so that the telling of a historical story is not simply a mind experience.

• I have a strong trust in the body's ability to inform us of what is most important to be with; a place of both focus and guidance.  The body, when listened to, will tell us that something is happening well before our minds have a chance to become activated and tell us what it wants us to believe is happening.  For example, I will often ask people 'What are you aware of in your body right now?' and the response will often be 'anxiety', 'fear', 'sadness', 'anger' etc.  These are words the mind uses to label a felt sense in the body.  While these labels might accurately speak to what the person is feeling, the label is at best limited in its description and at worst a word used by the mind to distract from what is really going on.  The physical sensation of anxiety is very similar to the sensation of excitement.  So, if I am used to believing that I am 'an anxious person' then naturally it is more difficult to identify when I feel excited.

• I will often say, 'Be open to the possibility that what your mind came in to talk about is not what the rest of you is here to explore.'  In this statement I am encouraging all of you to show up and make its presence known, not just the mind's stories about who you are (usually egoic roles), what has happened to you (almost always distorted versions of actual experiences), whether you are  'good' or 'bad' (superego messages to keep you in line), and a focus on only one aspect of your direct experience of life (i.e. intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual).

• I will listen deeply and compassionately to your experiences as relayed verbally, non-verbally, and energetically; sensing into your whole experience to the best of my ability.

• Using the psycho-spiritual personality model called the Enneagram I will support you to understand how you relate to yourself, others and your world.  This model does not put you in a box, but rather it will "show you the way out of the box you are already in" -- your ego.

• When appropriate I will teach you practices that will enhance your presence, your body's vibrational capacity (for a more vibrant existence and for healing), and your ability to truly remember who you are as a human being and beyond (the transpersonal realms).  These practices include, but are not limited to, breathing, meditation, relaxation, grounding, protection, and consciousness expanding guided visualizations.

• My main goal is to support you to fully embody into your human experience and become as fully aware of who you really are as possible -- more expansive beings having a human experience.  It is my belief that we are not capable of making any choices in our lives unless we are fully embodied/present here, otherwise we are only 'reacting' to what happens around us and in our minds. 
  

• Remember who you are. Learn to be present in each moment. Fully embody and make conscious choices in all areas of your life.
  

What I have learned from each of my work experiences:  Edward's CV

• Private Practice, Counselling & Transpersonal Psychotherapy
• I have worked with individuals, couples, families, and groups as a self-employed private practitioner since 1997.
• This work is deeply rewarding as I am given the gifts of sitting with so many people presenting so many different life experiences, challenges, joys, and intentions to know themselves more fully.
• My areas of specialization include, but are not limited to:  
  
• trauma (physical, emotional, mental experiences that leave a personally significant wound or scar)
• relationships (deepening contact, endings, creating friendships)
  
• abuse (physical, emotional, mental, sexual)
  
• life change (career, location, habits/patterns)
• disease and healing (causal awareness and practices to encourage healing)
• grief and loss (facing terminal diagnoses, communicating grief, forgiveness, letting go)
• spiritual emergency and emergence (spiritual overwhelm, energy rushes/kundalini, confusing realities, direct experiences of the Divine or of one's Essential Self, and how to discover the gifts)
• non-ordinary experiences (near-death and out-of-body experiences, psychic phenomena, precognitive dreams, after-life communication) 
  
• loss of sense of self (Who am I? What is my purpose?)
• spiritual growth practices (meditation, relaxation, breath work, deep guided visioning)
• dream exploration and analysis
  
• all life issues that arise while navigating the daily human experience

• Keyano College, Student Counselling Services
• My 16 months in Fort McMurray were some of the most personally challenging and integrative of my life.  I experienced the isolation that comes with moving to a small northern community where big city style traffic jams meant that my co-workers rushed off home as soon as the workday ended.  This time alone turned out to be hugely life changing for me as it forced me to sit with my own unconsciousness and let go of many old beliefs about myself and about life.
• With the support of a wise mentor-colleague I learned to develop my own style of career counselling rather than trying to do what was expected of me either by my mind or society. 
  
• My witnessing of students and staff who sat in my office became something rich and peaceful, without fear of doing the wrong thing or of missing something; I learned to trust both myself and those with whom I sat.

• Camosun College, Domestic and International Student Counselling Services
• Working in the college setting expanded my understanding of what it means to be truly present with another.  I had the idea that as a college counsellor I was there to support individuals to succeed in their educational goals, with life issues being things that got in the way of their learning.  As I watched and listened it became so clear that there is no separation between the student and the person they are outside of the college.  Learning how to pass an exam requires that we learn how we succeed with each of life's many tests; through presence with what is in each moment, recognizing the interconnectness between all aspects of our lives.

• Camosun College, Counselling Instructor
• Being in the role of instructor for individuals eager to learn counselling skills taught me how so much of our openness to learning and listening is dependent upon how attached we are to our ideas, beliefs and values.  Some of the most transformative moments happened for those students who fought hard for these mindsets and then were willing to let them go when they no longer fit their expanded sense of self, other and the world.

• Victoria Hospice Society, Volunteer Services & Bereavement Group Facilitation
• I learned that dying and death are two very different things.  While death is the ending of this physical life in this known plane of existence, dying is the beginning of a whole new life of experiences from a whole new perspective. While the dying process may be brief, it can be more powerful than the long life lived before dying begins.
• I saw that many dying people are, at times, waiting for someone to walk into their lives with an open heart and an open mind.  It is not always easy or comfortable for dying individuals to share what they are experiencing, or wondering about, with their loved ones.  We must be prepared to hold the space without judgment.
  
• Being visited by someone after he had died taught me that life and love never really end.  I learned to listen more deeply to the final gifts of dying individuals; words and gestures that can say so much about one's holding on and one's letting go.

• B.C. Cancer Agency, Patient & Family Counselling
• I learned how powerfully transformative a cancer diagnosis can be in both the individual's life as well as in the lives of that person's family, friends, co-workers and community.  It was truly an honour to be allowed into each person's experience; to glimpse t he depths of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual pain someone can live with while at the same time, often, opening to the possibility of being renewed, if not physically healed.
• Witnessing the deep caring of many of the staff members was often very touching.  I learned a deeper compassion in their presence, as well as an enhanced empathy for those doctors and clinicians who had the belief that getting 'too close' to a person was dangerous for the helper's own emotional well being.
• I watched dying people learning to live for the first time in their lives; asking big questions such as 'who am I?' and 'why am I here?'  They taught me to ask myself these questions and to live more deeply in each moment.
• I shared the joy as 'terminal' patients transformed the deeper causes of their physical illnesses and experienced either 'remission' or full healing.
• I learned that a 'diagnosis' is the best guess of a fallable species based on their best information at the time.  And, I learned that 'healing' is something that happens despite our best guesses and best practices, and that death does not mean someone was not healed in a very profound way.