From Cringe to Compassion: It’s Time to Meet Your Shadow

From Cringe to Compassion: It’s Time to Meet Your Shadow

Facing and Embracing the Parts of Yourself You’d Rather Not See to Restore Wholeness, Confidence and Resilience

Ever cringe at someone’s weakness or beat yourself up for feeling “pathetic”? Jung called it the Shadow. Parts Work calls them Exiles. Facing them can feel unbearable — but it’s also the path back to real confidence, resilience, and wholeness. Through a fictional coaching conversation and the story of a sprout rising from ashes, you’ll see how even the parts you most resist can open the way to growth.

Book Spotlight: The Heart of Values

Book Spotlight: The Heart of Values

Most people approach values work intellectually. They:

❌ Pick words from a list

❌ Take an assessment

❌ Get a printout of their “top values”

And then… they’re stuck. Because words on a page don’t change your life.

Knowing your values intellectually won’t transform you.

Living them will.

Because values work isn’t about finding words that sound nice. It’s about finding what’s real.

And once you do, you’ll have something you can trust – something that, no matter how lost you feel, always leads you back to yourself.

Beyond Positive Intelligence: Why Real Growth Requires More than Just Positivity

Beyond Positive Intelligence: Why Real Growth Requires More than Just Positivity

Positive Intelligence, aka PQ, focuses on identifying and overcoming internal ‘saboteurs’ – so-called negative thought patterns that can interfere with success and wellbeing. While this model resonates with many, it also presents critical limitations, particularly for individuals with histories of trauma, chronic stress, or unresolved inner conflict.

This article examines the strengths and shortcomings of the PQ framework, exposes the risks of oversimplified coaching approaches and inadequate coach education, and makes the case for a more trauma-wise, compassionate, and heart-centered approach – one that supports both coaches and individuals in fostering deeper self-awareness, self-acceptance, healing, and authentic growth.

HeartRich Resilience: Developing A System for Authentic Flourishing

HeartRich Resilience: Developing A System for Authentic Flourishing

Imagine a compass guiding you in life, not just to “survive” but to live deeply, meaningfully, and resiliently. The HeartRich Resilience Compass is designed with nine interconnected facets, each representing an area of your inner world and a suite of principles and processes or skillsets we can learn.

When you learn to turn these ‘Dials of Influence’ from the negative, destructive side toward the positive, life-affirming side, you begin to embody your truest self. You no longer react out of fear, avoidance, or survival; instead, you consciously choose your responses, acting with intention, clarity, and heart.

Beyond Stress Management: Expanding Your Window of Tolerance to Restore Authenticity, Resilience & Heart

Beyond Stress Management: Expanding Your Window of Tolerance to Restore Authenticity, Resilience & Heart

Is Stress Changing Who You Are? It’s highly likely that the toll of chronic stress is silently reshaping you, and without understanding how to manage it, the risks to your wellbeing, family life, and leadership effectiveness are only growing.

I would like to share a model to help explain what might be happening, from a neurophysiological perspective, called the Window of Tolerance.