Bloom Zoom
I may be an accidental grief worker, but it is my calling.
I have had profound personal and professional experience with grief.
In the process, I developed a simple but surprisingly effective technique to activate healing through creative adaptation.
What I offer is companioning rather than counseling or coaching.
We use storytelling prompts that invite you to explore your worries as well as your dreams for the future. Together, we co-design a supportive foundation and structure for your adaptation strategy, along with personalized tools and practices.
You craft your intentional joyful action in ways that guide you forward with creativity, care, and confidence - even as you wade into the uncertainty.
"Maya asked me questions that really got to the heart of my longing in a way that I had not accessed, and with great empathy.
The text messages in the weeks afterward were exactly what I needed to figure out my next steps. They kept me on track with my new adaptation practices, and got me pumped about my action.
The process Maya taught me is one I will continue to turn to as things evolve."
Les - healthcare professional in the U.S.
Despairalysis is the emotional freezing, avoidance, and disengagement that often accompanies our grief, anger, and fear about the unraveling of our ecological, social, and political systems.
Maybe you feel guilty about your own lifestyle choices.
Maybe you feel rage against those who are causing so much harm.
Maybe you are losing sleep as you lie awake, worried about the future.
Or maybe what you're feeling isn't despair, exactly.
You might be simply "checking out" as a way to avoid what feels too overwhelming.
Our high-frequency triggers for collective anxiety about the future are affecting us even when all we feel is a vague sense of dissonance - like when we read the news about another mega-storm and then go buy something online that isn't essential.
And this ongoing dissonance impacts our physical as well as our mental health.
But not if we DISRUPT it before it causes potentially serious and lasting harm.
Choosing to develop our adaptation practices and increase our resilience can lay the foundation for us to thrive even as things continue to change.
Bloom Zoom is a single 90-minute Zoom session that shifts your mindset and your mojo.
It helps you see, understand, and manage your responses to all that is going on. You´ll develop a plan to activate your awareness, rewild your habits, and adapt what you do to align with your recognition of reality AND your dreams for the future.
But it's not JUST the Zoom session.
That's just the beginning. Because we continue the conversation, sharing ongoing text/email/voice/video messages (your choice) daily for two weeks following the Zoom session.
These consistent prompts for reflection, continued exploration, idea swapping, and gentle accountability strengthen and solidify your new mindset as you continue crafting your adaptation practices and creative action.
This momentum is the magic that leads to transformation.
"What I loved most about my time with Maya was her prompts to share my stories related to Nature.
It was the beginning of a beautiful reconnecting to who I was as a child, happily playing in the creek and discovering new wonders daily.
Those stories and memories brought a new resonance to my life and work."
Jenny - photographer/film director, U.S.
"I felt completely isolated in my ideas, and was afraid to talk to anyone. Maya was warm and supportive. I was surprised by the depth of our conversation despite its casualness.
It was refreshing to laugh about the absurdities of our way of life with someone who really gets it! It definitely made the hard parts more bearable. I feel relieved and ignited."
Alexandra - communications director, Canada
¨I have advanced degrees in psychology, and had strong opinions about those offering mental health guidance without credentials. But I took a chance on working with Maya, and I am so glad I did. I learned so much about letting go of my biases and opening to creative disruption.
I am beyond pleased, and will take what I've learned into my own work.¨
Katherine - child psychologist, U.K.
"I honestly don't know what I would have done without Maya's gentle push.
It was exactly what I needed to face the fact that it was time for a big change.
Even though my project is new, I am heartened by our progress so far.
I love feeling wide awake and fully engaged instead of sleepwalking through my days!"
Dana - founder of a rewilding project, U.S.
"To be honest, I have been dissing the doomers. I thought they were just negative people. But now that I am talking with actual collapse-aware folks, I realize that we all want to feel optimistic, but in a REALISTIC way.
I thought accepting collapse might change my personality. I'm a positive guy. Now, my positivity is more balanced. It's based on the truth. Honestly, being open about it is a huge f#$*ing RELIEF.
Maya helped me find my courage. I finally talked about all of it with my wife, who encouraged me to leave the company. I launched a new project with a partner. It´s going well, but more importantly, it feels good. I am beyond grateful.¨
John - former sustainability lead for a U.S. corporation
"Okay, but will this work for me?"
Well, it has for everyone so far, despite a huge range of rough starting points and major challenges. (Read more about the first women I worked with here)
Irina
psychologist
Ukraine/Poland
"Our city was destroyed. My son and I fled to Poland. As a psychologist, I recognized the severe trauma that all war refugees were experiencing, but I was terrified to try to help anyone. I felt too fragile. I feared I would be overwhelmed by their grief. This filled me with guilt.
Maya helped me to see that I could use my grief as my power. I had empathy and the skills to guide others through this unimaginable misery.
I started a free clinic for displaced Ukrainian mothers here. Working with them has helped me to heal myself each day. Although the horrors continue, we focus on caring for each other and finding small everyday joys. We look for reasons to laugh.
I have brought my remaining family members here. I support them through the work I do with private clients, but I continue with the free clinic.
It is the most deeply fulfilling work I have ever done.¨
You don´t have to be fleeing from a war zone in order to experience a major shift.
Whether you're distressed by the non-stop drama of the daily news, sideswiped by an unexpected job loss due to political changes, or dangerously impacted by devastation and displacement due to climate change or conflict, this process can offer real, rapid, and remarkable shifts.
I don't pretend to be a climate psychologist or eco-therapist.
But I am uniquely positioned to guide you through this personal transformation thanks to:
🟦 my work helping 130+ individuals move through their grief in order to thrive in new ways
🟦 my own life experience processing profound grief and loss
🟦 my training and experience in trauma-informed facilitation, creative breakthrough coaching, and mindfulness practices
My work is also informed by:
🟦 my 30+ years of learning about deep ecology, behavioral psychology, and systems change via the work of the wonderful Joanna Macy (The Work That Reconnects, The Great Turning, Active Hope), Donella Meadows (The Limits to Growth, Thinking in Systems), and others
🟦 my engaged exploration of collapse by studying scientific research and integrating relevant information from the work of Jem Bendell (Deep Adaptation, Breaking Together), Nate Hagens (The Great Simplification), Ginie Servant-Miklos (Pedagogies of Collapse), and others
🟦 my ongoing experience in creative adaptation while making major life changes - from living in seven countries and building entirely new communities to continuously immersing in new learning experiences that transform my own perspective and work
🟦 my deep concern as a grandmother actively navigating future-related worries while focusing on creativity, resilience, and joy
Sweet little faces blurred for privacy, but you get the vibe. 🧡
If you're ready to keep your mind, eyes, and heart wide open
to both the challenges and the opportunities of this journey
from despair to determination, discovery, and delight,
I would love to partner with you.
A deep exploration.
An eye-opening realization.
A thrilling plan.
And loving-but-firm DAILY nudges to keep going until your new mindset and habits are a part of your routine.
The Bloom Zoom package includes:
30 minutes of heart-opening storytelling (yours).
30 minutes of creative breakthrough coaching.
30 minutes of gleeful strategy scribbling.
PLUS daily text/voice/video (your choice) support and accountability for two weeks.
To reserve your spot, simply fill out the short form below
I will get back to you soon with info about pricing and scheduling.
Now, the thing about collapse awareness and creative adaptation is that it's not a one-time event. The emotions keep coming in waves, triggered by what we read, discuss, and experience. And we continue to adapt.
So, I'm certainly not promising you will never feel sad or angry about the state of the world!
But through our Bloom Zoom + support series, you will:
1) recognize what triggers your personal swirl of emotions and how they show up for you
2) get adaptation tools to help you develop a greater ability to ride the waves and positively channel the energy they give you
3) create your own plan for how you want to adapt as you move forward with this new awareness in ways that lead to discovery and resilience.
Questions?
I'm happy to help! Contact me using the form on the Contact Page or email me.