Category: Circle Leaders

Alexandra MacKay

Registered Social Worker

Alexandra’s intention is to create a safe, attuned, compassionate and non-judgmental presence in which healing, growth and connection is possible.

She has worked more than 16 years in non-profit community mental health and addiction agencies, as well as child-welfare.  Currently, she’s employed at a hospital providing clinical services in the outpatient, mental health and addictions department.  Alexandra has her Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto and has her Certificate in Couple and Family Therapy Studies from the University of Guelph. She is a Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator, Practitioner and Circle Leader. Alexandra also has a private practice where she works with diverse populations including individuals, couples and families. 

She is an associate member of the Canadian Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Location: Kawartha Lakes, ON, Canada

Anya Robinson (Shakti)

Psychologist

Location: 2474 Marshall Ave, North Bellmore, NY, USA

Pamela Sommer

CI Circles Leader

Pamela is a Registered Massage Therapist and an EFT International – Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioner.  She has a unique approach, blending the art of EFT and Compassionate Inquiry with a strong foundation of bodily awareness.  Pamela lives in Rural Ontario on an off grid homestead with her two homeschooled children and husband.

Location: Dungannon, ON, Canada

Varduhi Torosyan

Psychologist

Varduhi’s journey with Compassionate Inquiry began in 2019 as a participant in the Professional Training. Having completed Mentorship and Internship programs, she continues her journey in Compassionate Inquiry as a Mentoring Intern and Compassionate Inquiry circle leader.

Simultaneously she pursued her therapeutic endeavours with Daniel Siegel exploring Interpersonal Neurobiology. She is a member of APA.

Varduhi has MA in Applied Linguistics and MA in Pedagogy which significantly facilitates her interaction with clients, as well as interpretation of their body language.

Her therapeutic practices officially began in 2015  when she completed a Postgraduate study in Psychology.

Her philosophy of therapy is client-centered, predominantly based on a safe client – therapist relationship where the healing process (becoming whole) is possible in the presence of trust and compassion. She’s convinced that good therapy is about the  relationship and not  the specific approach or method used.

Varduhi is doing online-based psychotherapy, along with private practices in the Armenia.

Location: V. Antarayin 133; B 2; apt. 1; Yerevan, Armenia

Mary Lennon

Acupuncturist

To enhance Mary’s work as a Licensed Acupuncturist, Mary has completed training as a Compassionate Inquiry practitioner, Compassionate Inquiry mentor and Compassionate Inquiry circle leader.

Mary holds a wealth of life experience including 20+ years within the Aviation Industry, where she was an airline pilot, aircraft flight instructor, flight operation coordinator and a flight simulator instructor on jet aircraft.

This experience offers a unique skill set of perception, observation, calmness, safety, clarity and presence.

These qualities as well as the knowledge and insights Mary has gained from her own deep work, through various modalities including shamanic and spiritual practices are embedded within her therapeutic work.

Mary continues to deepen her skills and professional development by studying the work of Dan Siegel, Bessel van der Kolk, Janina Fisher and of course Gabor Maté.

Location: County Kildare, Ireland

Mary O’Connor

Circle Leader

After a number of years working as a lawyer in Silicon Valley, California, I decided I wanted to help the more human parts of people.

What I mean by that is the parts of us that are trying to make sense of life, the parts that suffer and don’t know what to do about it, the parts that are wondering what to do next in our careers, and the parts that have a lot of questions about the purpose of life.

These are also the parts that are triggered, feel lost and lonely, get disproportionately angry, want to please people, and often don’t feel “good enough” for certain situations.

Many times, our parts don’t want to acknowledge these uncomfortable feelings and want to distract themselves with work, food, shopping, alcohol, or substances.

I trained with the Mayo Clinic to become a Certified Wellness Coach. I also trained with Dr Gabor Mate to become Certified in Compassionate Inquiry.

I help my clients to help themselves.  I support my clients to explore their parts, goals, motivations, and ambitions.  We look at how to maintain lasting changes over time through self-empowerment, tools, and understanding.  I work globally with clients online through Zoom.

Location: Fumbally Exchange, Waterford, Ireland

Dawn McCormick

I have consistently maintained that each person given a safe inner and outer environment is capable of healing.

Each person within has the capacity to observe themselves consciously.  Observe patterns, behaviors, thoughts, that which obstructs one from being fully present to and of themselves authentically.

Through the process of exploration, curiosity, openness, and expansion one can see parts of self, their personality and coping.  Permit one to see the necessity and function of them without identifying them as self presently, accept and hold versus pushing them away, hiding or projecting.

I started Compassionate Inquiry August 2019, although trained in many modalities, I continue to utilize compassionate Inquiry specifically.

I have yet to experience other techniques, modalities, approaches that have the capacity, safety, and fullness that I have experienced with compassionate Inquiry.

I am presently employed in Mental health, trauma, and addictions; Assistant manager at Ozanam recovery house, a second stage addictions facility for adult men.

I have worked predominantly within this field for 15 plus years.  I find the population I serve both rewarding and real.

In Gratitude, Dawn McCormick.

Location: West Kelowna, BC, Canada

Soraya Romao-Inglis (Fateh Bir)

Psychotherapist

As a trauma psychotherapist, Soraya offers the integration of Compassionate Inquiry (CI), IFS (Internal Family Systems), EMDR and mindfulness practices such as Kundalini Yoga in her sessions. She is trained in psychedelics-assisted psychotherapy which gives her the skills to support her clients during the integration process.

As a BIPOC person who was born in Brazil, and who has been a settler in Canada for over 20 years, she brings to her sessions the teachings received from her ancestors and her experience as an immigrant. She works from a multicultural compassionate lens, exploring with curiosity the presence of intersectionality in clients’ lives as well as its influences.

As for her self-care she spends her free time running, cycling, hiking and reading. She also enjoys spending time with her husband and her two stepdaughters and with her dog (Benjamin) in the Coast Salish People’s land.

Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Kevin Young

Life Coach

Kevin Young is a certified professional practitioner of Compassionate Inquiry, a Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator, Compassionate Inquiry Educator and Compassionate Inquiry Circle leader. Kevin is passionate about bringing healing, compassion and connection to humanity.

Kevin currently has a private practice based in Saintfield, Co. Down, Ireland and works with clients from all over the world.

He is a certified mindfulness and meditation practitioner. He uses Compassionate Inquiry and mindfulness to help individuals, organisations, and charities to better understand their mental, emotional and spiritual landscapes.

He brings a playful and relaxed approach to his work whilst holding a compassionate, non-judgemental and safe space for you to unveil the level of consciousness, mental climate, hidden assumptions, implicit memories and body states that form the real message that words both express and conceal.

Kevin has been unemployed, employed and self-employed and has used both therapy and meditation to deal with and heal from his own life challenges.

Location: 3 Creevy Close, Saintfield, Northern Ireland

Phyllis Furkalo

Life Coach

It is my intent to provide compassion, love, and light to help hold and illuminate your healing journey. I have witnessed time and again that the healing power is within all of us. 

I have worked internationally assisting souls to unlock repetitive patterns and get clear, resulting in a reawakened liveliness that reconnects clients with their truth, their authentic self, their essence, their ever-present self – the ultimate present! 

Consciousness, like healing, is ever-evolving and unfolding.

Healing movements when witnessed and held by others are life-giving, liberating, and so restorative in nature.

Gabor says trauma is not so much about what happened to you, but rather what happened within you.

Healing happens when… we bring awareness to all the parts of you that hadn’t been seen or held well enough… at a time when you were so young and so vulnerable.

See you soon!

Phyllis with Love

Location: Penticton, BC, Canada