Sheryl Paul, MA - Expert

As the daughter of two psychotherapists, I grew up with the language and theories of psychology running through my blood. As a young girl, I vacillated between dreaming about one day being either a writer, a therapist, or a midwife. Having found the confluence of these three arts through writing about and spiritually midwifing people through life’s transitions, including the transtion of transforming anxiety, self-doubt, and depression to serenity, self-trust, and joy, I feel deeply blessed to be living in the heart of my calling.

While my writing and counseling work have primarily focused on the specific transitions of getting married and becoming a mother, in recent years I have felt called to broaden my practice to include the lifelong transition of life in all its beauty and complexity. For whether we’re on the verge of leaping into marriage, getting a divorce, suffering through anxiety or depression, struggling with an addiction, or birthing a new identity as a mother, we find the same issues of self-trust and control appearing again and again. The story line may change, but the spiritual seeker quickly finds that the areas that need attention reappear at deeper layers of the spiral on life’s journey.

I utilize an effective, 6-step process called Inner Bonding cradled within the spiritual context of transitions to create a powerful framework through which I can assist clients in finding their own voice, exploring the stories and beliefs that interfere with hearing this voice, confronting their need to control and the perpetual practice of learning to surrender, and guiding them as they make their way through life’s challenges and joys. My decade of working with clients in transition combined with my years of a loving marriage (not without continual consciousness and hard work!) and the privilege/challenge of being a mother have solidified my firm belief that, while guides are often necessary to help us find our way through the labyrinths, no one outside of ourselves and a spiritual source has the answers. In fact, I believe that, whether we’re talking about parenting, marriage, or anxiety, there are no definite answers; there’s only the process of discovering what’s right for you.

In 1997, I graduated from Pacifica Graduate Institute, a depth psychology program founded upon the teachings of Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, James Hillman, and the study of dreams, archetypes, myths, and the myriad ways that the unconscious manifests in daily and nightly life. As a writer, poet, and epic dreamer, I encourage my clients to explore their own creative outlets as pathways for connecting to Spirit and finding their own truths.

In 1999, I launched my unique business, Conscious Weddings, and a year later published my first book, The Conscious Bride, which broke the taboo of discussing the underbelly of the wedding transition. In 2003, my second book, The Conscious Bride’s Wedding Planner, was published, and in 2004, I began working with impending and new mothers through Conscious Motherhood.

Since 1999, I have counseled thousands of people worldwide through my private practice, my bestselling books, my Home Study Programs and my website. I have appeared several times on “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, as well as on “Good Morning America” and other top media shows and publications around the globe.

To sign up for my free 78-page eBook, “Conscious Transitions: The 7 Most Common (and Traumatic) Life Changes“, visit my website at http://conscious-transitions.com.

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