TGIF | Awakening to Purpose: A Personal Story and an Invitation to Transform
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Dear Community,
Things are hard right now. I feel it deeply in my own nervous system. A few times this week, I’ve shared with peers and loved ones that I’m just a sidestep away from a doomsday spiral into darkness. It’s taken some formidable strength, mindfulness, and presence to pull myself back to center over and over again.
I know you feel it too, and today I want to share something personal about the journey that led me to where I am now. A place where I have the resilience to navigate my big feelings, where my body feels safe enough to withstand external stressors, where I know how to care for myself, and where each day is filled with conscious alignment with my values, worth, and gratitude.
It’s been a challenging journey, and I’d say it all started almost four years ago, a major turning point in my life. Some of you may have heard parts of this story before, but today, I’m opening up about the path I’ve taken since then.
A Sudden Impact
In January 2021, I was walking back from a coffee shop, in between clients, when I was hit by a car. One moment, I was walking; the next, I was on my knees, calling out. It was the height of the pandemic, and with so few people around, I felt a deep fear of being alone and unseen.
An older woman came to my side, helping me to the sidewalk. I remember apologizing, concerned that I didn’t have a mask. We were both so concerned for each other’s safety that somehow, in those brief moments, I found a strange comfort and strength.
Physically, I was bruised but “okay.” Or so it seemed. In reality, I returned to work too quickly, caught up in responsibilities, clients in crisis, and the demands of running a mental health practice during one of the world’s most challenging times. But what began as headaches soon escalated into daily migraines, intense neck pain, and a fog that seemed to follow me everywhere. It wasn’t until months later that I learned the woman who hit me had pled not guilty—and when I saw the footage of the accident, it all made sense. I was diagnosed with post-concussive syndrome, and suddenly, my life’s pace became unsustainable.
Reorganizing Awareness
I took time off, transferred my caseload, and delegated tasks. Slowing down, however, didn’t come easily. I had always believed that life was about showing up, giving more. But as I healed, I began to see the gift in letting go of that constant drive. Slowing down allowed me to really listen—both to my body and my spirit. And that’s when something shifted.
Through all of this, my priorities transformed. I leaned into practices that reconnected me with a new sense of self, purpose, and surrender. This experience eventually led me to develop a program rooted in these values. Slowing down awakened me to a new way to help others, even as I was learning how to help myself. I began listening more deeply, creating quiet spaces, and allowing myself to expand into a deeper level of awareness. It’s a place where insight comes easily, love is profoundly felt, and joy feels real and available.
The Intensive Reset Was Born
This journey led me to create the Intensive Reset program, a commitment that goes beyond traditional therapy. It’s a program born from my own experiences of burnout and healing. The Intensive Reset is here for those who feel caught in an endless cycle of giving, who need a shift but can’t see the path forward. It’s for anyone who needs that pause, a space to find their center, to heal deeply, and to emerge renewed.
We’ve woven together therapeutic insights, spiritual practices, and holistic techniques to create something truly transformative. I can say this because it’s grounded in my own journey through chronic pain, through learning to let go of “how things should be,” and embracing the beauty of “what is.” Intensive Reset isn’t just about offering tools for recovery; it’s about providing space for realignment and sustained healing.
Where Psychology and Spirituality Meet
Deep into my healing journey, I read a lot. I took classes with leaders across the field of Transpersonal Psychology and became captivated by consciousness work. One insight that felt particularly true as I reflected on my journey—and my work with clients—was that while all problems may appear psychological, their solutions are often spiritual. It’s an important distinction that Dr. Lisa Miller explores in her book, Awakened Brain, where she notes that we’re actually hardwired for spirituality.
Spirituality is a deeply personal journey—a connection to something beyond ourselves that brings a sense of meaning and grounding. It doesn’t fit into a single belief system or practice; rather, it grows uniquely within each of us, whether through mindfulness, time in nature, or moments of quiet reflection.
At its heart, spirituality invites us to slow down and find clarity, creating space for gratitude, resilience, and compassion to flourish. For some, spirituality connects to religious beliefs; for others, it’s an open, exploratory path. But in all cases, it gives us a framework to return to when life feels overwhelming or uncertain.
The SUMMT as a Gateway
This is how the Intensive Reset program evolved. Previously called The Elevated, I created it using books, classes, spiritual lessons, and psychological integration.
I eventually named the method I had been testing the SUMMT—SUbconscious Memory Meditation Therapy. During these sessions, clients were experiencing something extraordinary: awe, connections to deceased loved ones, insights from their younger selves, clarity from past painful experiences, relief from chronic pain, and a profound sense of being part of something larger. They received messages that grounded them in purpose, felt unconditional love and support, and discovered a peace like never before.
Many clients described it as the closest thing to a psychedelic experience they’d ever had. With the medically supported use of ketamine, some clients had even more intense, heart-opening experiences, awakening to a more compassionate understanding of their authentic selves, fostering resilience, calm, and a clear sense of life’s purpose.
It was, and continues to be, a spiritual awakening process.
An Invitation
Now, especially in a time when the unknown feels overwhelming, I find it more important than ever to connect to our greater purpose and authentic selves, cultivating a deep sense of peace and love.
If this resonates, I invite you to apply to the Intensive Reset program. Over the three years since its initial development, I’ve refined it to make the most significant impact in a short time. It’s intense, transformative, and a journey I’m truly honored to share with you all.
As always, thank you for being here. You’re never alone… we truly are all in this together.
This week’s Tools, Gratitude, Innovation, Feels
Tools
I have previously written about my personal experience with therapeutic psychedelics, and my experiences continue to inform my work and way of being. However, access to medicine is difficult and so are safe environments. I do not condone recreational use and always suggest having a skilled guide. What I love about the SUMMT method within our Intensive package is that it’s the closest you can get to a “trip” without the medical intervention tool. However, we have partnered with the esteemed team at MPH for those who want to add a little extra with the loving assistance of the friendly medicine of ketamine.
Gratitude
Every download I’ve gotten to inform Reset’s clinical work has been born from profound challenges. Whether it’s yoga therapy, meditation practices, trauma-informed deep healing, shadow work, trance state work, and non-ordinary states of consciousness - I had to be open enough to learn, feel these practices myself, and then figure out how to distill for my team and clients. It’s not easy work but I’m so grateful each time the work takes me deeper and the result is a beautiful way for humans to connect more to themselves and others.
Innovation
The one point that people fail to understand is that with all intensive experiences, integration is key. Many of us are allured by retreats and single expansive journeys and yet lose the container to turn those experiences into daily living. When we embed our programs into the Reset model, we turn integration into an expectation. You go back home, you’re still seeing your therapist, you learn how to take what you learned and felt and apply it immediately into your day to day. That’s the hardest part of this work and the most worthwhile and lasting.
Feels
The greatest joy I’ve had over the last 6 months is training key members of my team to be able to lead the Intensive experience themselves. To take something that was like another baby of mine and allow others to give feedback, explore the processes, challenge it and ultimately make it better was so vulnerable and yet I felt so humbled and fulfilled. Ultimately, teamwork makes things come even more alive and that’s where the Intensive Reset is now - a living, breathing program that is ready to be fully embraced.