I play in the space between grief and gratitude.

I may be an accidental grief worker, but it is my calling.

I come from a place of profound personal and professional experience with grief. 

While devoting 800+ hours to ushering individual clients through debilitating grief, I developed a simple but surprisingly effective technique.

 

What I offer is companioning rather than counseling or coaching.

We get creative, sharing storytelling conversation sessions that explore your worries as well as your wild dreams for the future. Together, we co-design a supportive structure and foundational story, along with daily tools and practices, and your intentional act of joy so you can guide yourself forward with care and confidence - even as you wade into the uncertainty.

"What I loved most about my experience 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.

This series really worked for me, and remarkably quickly. I am beyond pleased.¨

Katherine - child psychologist, U.K.

"I honestly don't know what I would have done without Maya's gentle kickstart.

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 my progress so far.

I love feeling wide awake and fully engaged instead of sleepwalking through my days!"

Dana - founder of a neighborhood rewilding project, U.S.

"Will this work for me?"

I have never had a client who was not thrilled with her results, despite a huge range of rough starting points and major challenges. (Read more about the first women I worked with here)

But you don´t have to be incapacitated by grief in order to experience a major shift!

Whether you're distressed by the non-stop drama of the daily news or directly impacted by the devastation and displacement of war, this process provides real and remarkable shifts in 30 days.

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.

I have brought my remaining family members here, and I support them through the work I do with private clients. Although the horrors continue, we focus on caring for each other and finding small everyday joys. We look for reasons to laugh.

This is the most deeply fulfilling work I have ever done.¨

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 in trauma-informed facilitation and creative breakthrough coaching, and my role as a mindfulness trainer 

 

My work is also informed by:

🟦 my 30+ years of learning about deep ecology, behavioral psychology, and systems change via the work of 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), Nora Bateson (Warm Data) Ginie Servant-Miklos (Pedagogies of Collapse) and others

🟦 my ongoing experience in embracing adaptation and 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 concern for young people as the grandmother of five little ones under the age of six actively navigating the future worries for my grandchildren while focusing on joy and resilience

Sweet little faces blurred for privacy, but you get the vibe! 🧡

If you're ready to re-frame and re-imagine your view of the future

and 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.

Collapse Into Joy is for women ready to transform their vision of the future and take action right away.  

 

It is designed to serve as 

a deep dive

with inquiry and storytelling

and daily contact

for two weeks

with clear action steps

followed by two weeks of accountability check-ins

 

Collapse Into Joy takes you from the grief of recognizing our metacrisis and its implications...

to gratitude for your new path through adaptation...

and downright giddiness about your plan for your personal and community acts of joy.

 

Together, we explore the possibilities that are open to you in ways of thinking, living, and working in alignment with your deepened understanding of our likely future scenarios.

 

We explore:

🔹brilliant resistance

🔹grounded gratitude

🔹regenerative mojo

🔹social rewilding

🔹creative adaptation 

🔹crafted resilience

🔹deepened connection

🔹undeniable JOY

 

This series guides you to funnel your new energy into actions and adaptation practices that develop personal, professional, and community resilience.

 

In this two-week series of ongoing conversation sessions plus two follow-up sessions,

we mix it up, using text and voice/video messages as well as Zoom calls.

This allows for more reflection between questions, dramatically increasing the depth of your insights and creating momentum to discover your opportunities. 

 

Collapse Into Joy includes:

🟦 2 50-minute Zoom sessions (around Days 1 and 14)

🟦 ongoing storytelling and Active Inquiry-based sessions via text/chat, voice and video messages (your choice)

🟦 1 50-minute accountability Zoom session on Day 20

🟦 1 50-minute accountability Zoom session on Day 30

 

Your journey is YOURS. 

We start where you are, focus on your needs and longings, and find your best way forward.

 

It is designed for:

🔹female solopreneurs, consultants, creatives, and non-profit leaders

🔹women working in sustainability-related roles who recognize the shift that is needed

🔹women who are between roles or doing the work of caring for others

🔹curious women ready to reframe their own ideas of what's possible

🔹any women seeking grounding and inspiration  this time of accelerating change

 

Price: US$995

 

Schedule now for 1 opening available in April 2025, and 4 in May

PLEASE NOTE:  For the rest of 2025, I am focused on working with women located in Europe/United Kingdom and North America ONLY. 

Now, the thing about collapse awareness is that it's not a one-time event. The emotions come in waves, triggered by what we read, discuss, and experience daily.

 

So, I'm certainly not promising you will never feel sad, guilty, or angry about the state of the world!

But through our series of conversations, you will:

1) recognize what triggers your personal swirl of emotions and how they show up for you

2) 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.

Not everyone is ready to go deep,

even if they suspect there is light on the other side. 

 

I work with women who would rather face reality fully than keep their head in the sand. 

It is an honor to guide those who are willing to 

spend time doing the inner work of amending their world view

and making a profound pivot.

The first step is always the hardest. 

Ready to explore what you is heavy for you and start living fully, deliberately, joyfully with that wisdom?

PLEASE NOTE:

I am not a licensed psychologist or therapist, nor am I offering traditional counseling or therapy.

My training is in trauma-informed facilitation and creative breakthrough coaching.

My unique weaving of storytelling, Active Inquiry, and companioning addresses both longing and belonging, and encourages personal evolution and action, including self-care, outreach, and activism. 

Read about how I developed my process here.

 

IMPORTANT: Though I work with those struggling with grief, I am not the right person to help you if you have a history of severe depression or are currently experiencing suicidal ideation.

If this is true for you, please seek help immediately from a qualified mental health professional.

I care about you, and urge you to get the treatment you need. There is a path forward for you! 

 

Questions about whether this is right for you?