Category: Private Mentors

This page lists approved Compassionate Inquiry Private Mentors, whom you may contact for individual or group mentoring for additional mentoring sessions. Whether you are in the Professional Training, are preparing for a Certification Review, or for the supervision sessions required during your first two years of practice as a Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner; please discuss the rate for mentoring directly with your chosen mentor.

The private mentors listed on this page have completed a 30-hour Supervision Training, and have been approved by the Compassionate Inquiry Mentoring Internship Team.

This page does not refer to the Compassionate Inquiry Mentorship Program, which can be found in the menu under Online Training.

Sam Lyon

Private Mentor

Sam has 24 years’ experience working in mental health and addictions, and has developed a deep
understanding of the importance of humility, compassion and acceptance when interacting with
others.

As a CI mentor, Sam’s intention is to collaboratively support your growth and confidence as you
expand your skills toward CI certification and/or deepen your CI practice. Sam is committed to helping
you find your unique space within CI and to deepen your individual competencies as a CI practitioner.
Sam’s interest in neurobiology, trauma-informed care and advocacy led her to explore the teachings
of Gabor Maté. Through the language and skills of CI, she found that the approach aligned with her
values and beliefs, providing her with new tools to support her personal growth and how she shows
up for others.

As your mentor, Sam offers a collaborative and supportive approach, and is committed to helping you
achieve your goals.

Location: Ontario, Canada
Email: [email protected]

Espe Garcia

Private Mentor

Hello my name is Espe Garcia, thank you for stopping by and reading my profile, it is important that you chose the right CI Mentor for you. 

My passion for mentoring has grown from my own experience with my Mentors. I have been so lucky to have grown with great teachers within CI . Different Mentors have given different perspectives and wisdom to enhance my CI skills and competencies bringing light to my unique CI style.  They helped me to find my own light and that is what my aim in Mentoring is; to help you to integrate the CI skills and competencies to your own unique style, celebrating “you” and  your wisdom so you can bring this approach to your work in the best way you can.

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Email: [email protected]

Lucie Mattar

Private Mentor, Counsellor

Mentoring is a collaborative process with the purpose of solidifying the foundation of how you apply the CI approach. In my personal experience, the true gift of Mentoring is the process of integration of one’s personal style, colours and gifts into their practice, while staying aligned with the CI approach.

Having the opportunity to work with Mentors during my February 2021 Mentorship Program significantly deepened every aspect of my CI practice. Receiving mentoring removed some of my blinders, provided more clarity by deconstructing ingrained patterns of practice that were no longer useful. The undeniable benefits from the feedback and support I received from Mentors increased my confidence, enhanced my CI skills, qualities, and the use of stepping stones, while expanding my growth. This in turn is what I want to share with you. 

Following a variety of alternative and fringe paths led me to where I am today, solidly anchored within my True Self. The pursuit of interest in holistic approaches and mystery schools provided a dimension and expansion that all my formal university education never did. My commitment is to assist in the uncovering of what is already present within each mentee, waiting to burst into its true expression.

Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner profile

Email: [email protected]

Tatjana Ivkovic

Private Mentor, Counselling Therapist

Tatjana is a certified Mental Health Counselor specializing in Non-Directive Interventional (NDI) Psychotherapy.
Additionally, she is a certified Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner, Mentor, and Circle Leader.

She has completed the CI Mentorship Program, CI Internship Program, and CI Mentoring Internship Program, and continues her professional growth and developing her skills by active involvement in the CI community.

Tatjana’s therapeutic approach is grounded in a holistic, whole-person-centered psychosomatic framework.
She works in English, Greek, and Serbo-Croatian, offering her services both locally in-person and with international clients from all around the world via Zoom.

To work with Tatjana is to be welcomed into a safe environment, which gives you the space to be seen, heard, and held
compassionately so that you can 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.
Through this transformative journey, a strong therapeutic relationship is cultivated, allowing for the exploration of feelings, perceptions, deep-seated beliefs, and behavioral patterns.
The ultimatum goal is to liberate and connect to your authentic self and embark on a path toward genuine living.
Tatjana specializes in facilitating Compassionate Inquiry Circles that equip you with valuable tools to understand the complexity of your mind-body-soul interconnections better.
This newfound understanding paves the way for more meaningful, authentic relationships with yourself, others, and society as a whole.
Her vision is rooted in creating a more compassionate world. Tatjana is dedicated to assisting people in turning their pain into personal power and strength while witnessing personal awakenings.
She is passionate about this work and grateful for those willing to explore this unique journey together.Tatjana looks forward to meeting you.

See their practitioner bio here.

Location: Chania, Greece
Email: [email protected]

Tiph Fedor

Therapist, Private Mentor, Counselling therapist and Mindfulness Practitioner

Tiph started her journey as an energy healer over 30 years ago and is a registered Counsellor and Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner.

She is a certified Mindfulness Practitioner, having trained with Eckhart Tolle and uses her ability to hold deep presence with her skills as a Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner to support people through their journey of trauma to a place of authentic connection with themselves.

Tiph has her own private practice based in the Herefordshire countryside and works with couples and individuals from around the world.

She is deeply committed to her own process and that of her clients and sees her journey of self development as being intertwined with her work as a therapist.

She believes that the spiritual journey is deeply connected to working through trauma and that the two happen in conjunction with each other.

She has completed the Compassionate Inquiry Mentorship programme and is looking forward to continuing her journey within the Compassionate Inquiry community.

Alex Maizuss

Private Mentor
I am Alex Maizuss, I am a dedicated Compassionate Inquiry practitioner and work as a mindfulness-based personal development coach, with a deep commitment to supporting others in their personal and professional growth.

My journey began with my own search for training programs to help me navigate the challenges of living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

After studying Dr. Gabor Mate’s teachings on my own for several years, I was accepted into the CI year-long training program in 2020. Since then, I have become a certified compassionate inquiry practitioner, facilitator, and mentor, with training in Hakomi and certifications in MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), mPEAK (Mindful Performance, Awareness, and Knowledge), and Basics in Clinical Supervision.

My approach to mentoring is based on mutual collaboration, providing guidance and support to practitioners in training, seeking certification, and pursuing career goals. I am also a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee trained by The National Coalition Building Institute – NCBI for Compassionate Inquiry.

I am honored to have been an early contributor to the USC Center for Mindfulness Science and currently serve on its steering committee. Mindfulness is at the foundation of all my work, as I focus on the application of mindfulness interventions for healthcare, research, and psychedelic integration.

My passion for mentoring stems from my own experiences and the transformative power of compassionate inquiry, and I look forward to supporting others on their own journey of growth and discovery.

In my free time, I enjoy connecting with nature through gentle walks or reading a book under a tree.

Email: [email protected]

Diana Safta

Private Mentor, Psychotherapist

Besides being a Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner (working intensely with this approach) and a Private Mentor, I am an active Psychologist and Psychotherapist, with a master’s degree in clinical psychology.

As a background, I’ve studied different others psychological approaches – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Schema Therapy, Couples Therapy, Transgenerational Therapy, Systemic Therapy, and have developed competencies through dozens of different courses, workshops, silent retreats, mindfulness, meditations and books, as I am a “learning addict”.

I’ve started the CI program in Jan 2019, being in the first cohort and then following all the programs that CI had to offer, in order to refine my skills more and more: 3 internships, 1 mentorship, 2 mentoring internships, a clinical supervision course, the ‘’Suicide Prevention’’ course, ‘’Diversity, Equity, Inclusion’’ course, 2 CI Circles, and had done and still doing a lot of personal therapy as ‘’ You are only able to meet others as deeply as you’ve met yourself.’’ I was also grateful to be part of the team which organized an event for the CI community in Europe, in Budapest, in 2022, meeting in person many of the CI participants, coming from more than 22 countries.

Coming from a place of experiencing an immense fear of being evaluated and of not being ‘good enough’, I now consider the Mentoring sessions not only powerful, but also empowering for the mentees. I think all the experience I got in the CI programs is now shared with openness, curiosity, and compassion with each person I get the chance to meet.

The passion I have for the CI approach comes from experiencing it in all the possible ways and seeing it’s amazing healing power!

Looking forward to connecting online via Zoom and possibly in person, in Bucharest, Romania.

Email: [email protected]

Alexandra MacKay

Private Mentor, MSW RWS

My intention, as a Compassionate Inquiry Mentor, is to support you in fulfilling your personal and professional goals.  This includes deepening and expanding your knowledge of the CI Skills and Competencies inclusive of unfolding and evolving relational processes.  Whether you are currently in the year long CI program, the mentorship, certifying or re certifying, my aim is to assist you in building competence and confidence in the CI process.

My philosophy is person-centered and collaborative, based on a mentor-mentee relationship where safety is the foundation, trust is established, compassion is present, creating the conditions for growth and learning to flourish.

I was introduced to Gabor’s book “In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts…” in 2010, while working at a mental health and addictions community agency.  I first met Gabor in 2014 when he presented on the topic of addictions and mental health in Belleville, Ontario.  I was moved and inspired by his compassion and humanity.  In 2019 I learned about the compassionate inquiry year-long program and this is when my CI journey began. My passion for this work led me continue in this path towards finding our authentic selves.  Currently I am a CI Practitioner, CI Facilitator, CI Circle Leader, and CI Mentor.

On a professional level, I completed a Supervision training with Lois Ehrmann, PhD, LPC, NCC/ACS, online in 2021.  I have also completed an undergraduate degree in Psychology and International Studies.  I graduated from the University of Toronto in 2010 in social work, specializing in their Children and Families program. In 2018, I completed a Certificate in Couple and Family Studies from the University of Guelph, a program offered by the Ontario Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (OAMFT).  I have worked in non-profit mental health and addiction community agencies since 2005.  Currently I work part-time in private practice and part time in the outpatient mental health department in Hospital, where I facilitate the mindfulness group, as well as working with individual clients.

Personally, I was drawn to compassionate inquiry and continue to work on bringing awareness to core beliefs, behaviours and emotions stored in the body as a result of my experiences of trauma, including having experienced the unexpected loss of a parent in childhood.  Bringing compassion and acceptance to all parts and “attention to the tension,” has helped me move towards wholeness.  Currently I live with my husband and two adolescent children, our dog and cat.  I enjoy nature, animals, swimming, yoga, singing, dancing, traveling as well as relaxing.

Location: Ontario, Canada
Email: [email protected]

Tamara Kowalska

Private Mentor

We are all headed toward increased consciousness even though it doesn’t always appear that way. I have gained this understanding through CI and it has made all the difference. As a mentor, I can assist CI practitioners navigate their way through the terrain of setting and reaching personal and professional goals. But more importantly, I wish to share the gift of awareness of perception.

I received my CI certification in August 2022 and qualified as a private mentor in March, 2023. I am currently an intern with the year-long training as well as with the short course. And I have attended the CI Circles and the Suicide Attention training as well as the Beyond Addiction course with Sat Dharam Kaur. I presented my spoken word poetry at the first annual CI conference in Vancouver, November 2022.

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Email: [email protected]

Monika Guillemin Weiglová

Psychologist, Private Mentor

My intention as a Compassionate Inquiry mentor is to help you uncover the unconscious drivers and access your inner wisdom by focusing on the present moment. As I learnt a lot on my way of being psychologist for almost two decades and years in compassionate inquiry training, I love to share with you my knowledge and understanding of the modality.

I am honoured to provide a safe, non-judgemental space and my full presence for you to be able to explore your intention and discuss what you need as a therapist. What might be possibly on the way for you to be a clear mirror for your clients. Because I believe that deepening our self awareness helps us become that clear mirror so clients’ essence can then appear and they can be led by it.

I am a psychologist, certified kundalini yoga teacher and enjoying incorporating art, imaginations and body work in my practice with clients. Besides being a certified Compassionate Inquiry practitioner I am as well trained in psychotherapy based on Jungian analytical psychology (Guided Affective Imagery). Currently, I am in final stages to be certified as a trauma-informed art therapist.

In my private practice I am offering programs about conscious parenting and emotional development. Via zoom, I lead a group or individual therapies. I am looking forward to working with you and supporting you in your journey. Compassionate inquiry feels for me like a home approach and I enjoy in general connecting ancient wisdom with the modern neuroscience perspectives to restore balance and become whole again.

I will do all my best to support you in enjoying this journey too.

Email: [email protected]