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.

Natalia Sotomayor (Sanjog Kaur)

Private Mentor, Life Coach
My first encounter with the work of Dr. Gabor Maté was in 2012 through the Beyond Addiction program. As a person who struggled with an eating disorder since my early teenage years, Gabor’s work gave me resources to approach the symptoms of my ED from a place of compassion, understanding and possibility, something I had not encountered in any of the other healing approaches that I had tried. The deep healing I experienced with everything I was learning in Beyond Addiction encouraged me to continue exploring this work, leading me to become a CI Practitioner in 2019, and a CI Facilitator shortly after. I currently dedicate my life to offering group and individual therapy. I’m also the Director of the CI programs in Spanish, a kundalini yoga teacher and practitioner, and a passionate researcher of ways in which this approach can be adapted to diverse cultural backgrounds. From a professional perspective, I have a background in Anthropology and Gender Studies, and have trained in Art Therapy foundations, Brainspotting and IFS.

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Location: Quito, Ecuador
Email: [email protected]

Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John

Private Mentor, Life Coach

Dr Valerie (Vimalasara) Mason-John M.A (hon.doc) is an award-winning author of 8 books, including her debut fictional memoir novel, Borrowed Body, and Detox Your Heart, Meditations for Emotional Trauma, and Eight Step Recovery Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. She is a co-founder of the secular 8-week course Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery MBAR and is one of the new leading African Descent Voices in the field of Mindfulness Approaches for Addiction. She is the current president of the international organization Buddhist Recovery Network, which promotes Mindfulness and Buddhism as a complementary approach working with addiction, craving, recovery, harm reduction and abstinence. Valerie has been working in the field of inquiry over the past 15 years, as a trainer in conflict resolution and restorative justice, and as a guide with Liberation Unleashed, and a mentor in Direct Pointing. She lives in British Columbia.

Location: Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada
Email: [email protected]

Sheila Tyacke (Siri Dharma)

Private Mentor, Lawyer

Sheila is a certified Compassionate Inquiry practitioner.  She has been a facilitator of the online training since its inception in 2019.  She co-leads the Safety and Connection course that is part of the online training, where the focus is on creating safety in Compassionate Inquiry sessions. Sheila and Vimalasara Mason-John are the officers in the Integrity and Equality Office, where their function is to be part of resolving any disputes or conflicts that may arise in the context of the training.   Sheila is trained as a lawyer and is an accredited mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) in the United Kingdom. She teaches Kundalini Yoga for addiction recovery in South Africa when she isn’t occupied with diversity and inclusion work and mentoring lawyers.  She is also trained in Family Life counselling and Addiction counselling and is a trainer in the Beyond Addiction program.  She studied and teaches non-violent communication.  Sheila considers herself a highly-sensitive person and has a deep interest in ensuring that highly sensitive people are welcomed and safely held in the online training course as well as in private mentoring sessions.

Location: Johannesburg, 2196, South Africa
Email: [email protected]

Rhonda Nelson

Private Mentor, Psychotherapist

My intention as a Compassionate Inquiry Mentor is to support you toward Compassionate Inquiry Certification and/or in deepening and expanding your knowledge and experience with Compassionate Inquiry competencies. My approach is person-centered and aligns with qualities inherent in reflective supervision. The process is intended to support and inform your work both personally and professionally. I am a Psychotherapist in private practice with a passion for integrating Compassionate Inquiry with other somatic-based modalities, including Internal Family Systems (IFS). I have been working in the field of addiction, health, and wellness for over 20 years.

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Location: Alberta, Canada
Email: [email protected]

Varduhi Torosyan

Private Mentor, Psychologist

As a CI Mentor, I will be working with you to support your CI competency development on a continuum, and directly and indirectly improve session effectiveness.

My philosophy of mentoring is mentee-centered based on a mentor-mentee  relationship as a safe container where professional and personal development is possible in the presence of trust and compassion.  

My journey with Compassionate Inquiry began in 2019. Currently I am a CI Mentor, CI Circle Leader and CI Practitioner. I am the founder of “My Family” psychological research NGO.  After getting MA degrees in Applied linguistics and Pedagogy, I completed post-graduate study in Applied Psychology at YSU. 

I have completed a Basics in Clinical Supervision Training, online with Dr. Jeff Chang and CI Mentoring Internship program preparing myself to mentor others.

I live with my husband and three amazing kids in Yerevan, Armenia. 

Location: Yerevan, Armenia
Email: [email protected]

Steve Borloz

Private Mentor, Yoga Teacher

Hi, I’m Steve.

My own journey of self-discovery started in 2012, however I only came across Gabor’s work in 2016 when I read his book, ‘In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts’.

His life changing approach to mental illnesses and addiction planted a seed which has only grown through the years. Thanks to this work, I’ve realised that we all encounter different copying mechanisms throughout our lives, which has helped to inform my own practice of self-discovery and helping others.

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Location: Nendaz, Switzerland
Email: [email protected]

Stephen Brown

Private Mentor

My intention is to support you as your learning, understanding, and practice of Compassionate Inquiry evolves and expands.

I have been following Dr Gabor Mate’s work since 2016 and was delighted to attend a two-day conference with him in Cork 2018. For more than 25 years I have worked with people, primarily in group settings utilising the natural environment and outdoor activities. I have spent many years working with young people at risk, young and adult offenders, and those who wished to bring about change in their life. I provide empowering experiences such as Firewalking, retreats in the Sahara Desert and Bali, and opportunities for connection with Self, community, and nature; and people were benefitting. However, I was aware that people wanted to go deeper, understand themselves better, and heal. When I saw Gabor working with people, I instantly knew that I wanted to learn more from him and share that with the people I was working with. It was like I had just found the missing jigsaw piece. I was delighted to join the Compassionate Inquiry programme in 2019, certify as a Compassionate Inquiry practitioner, and now serve as a mentor.

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Location: Newcastle, UK
Email: [email protected]

Soraya Romao-Inglis (Fateh Bir)

Private Mentor, Psychotherapist

In our mentoring sessions, I will integrate Compassionate Inquiry, IFS (Internal Family Systems), and mindfulness practices. I work from a multicultural compassionate lens which gives me the opportunity to explore with curiosity the presence of intersectionality in your clients’ lives as well as its influences. I was born in Brazil, but I have been a settler in Canada for over 20 years. As a BIPOC person, I also bring into our mentor sessions the teachings received from my ancestors.
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Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Email: [email protected]

Sat Dharam Kaur

Private Mentor, ND

As a Compassionate Inquiry Mentor, I will be working with you to help you achieve your personal and professional goals and competencies related to Compassionate Inquiry. I would like to share some of my professional background with you. I have been practicing full-time as a naturopathic doctor since 1989, with a focus on women’s health, cancer and mind-body approaches to healing. Since 2019, much of my naturopathic practice has included Compassionate Inquiry.

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Location: Owen Sound, ON, Canada
Email: [email protected]

Rati Roberta Riccardi

Private Mentor, Yoga Teacher

Since starting the Compassionate Inquiry learning journey in 2019, I have been fully devoted and dedicated to this approach, as I found I could not get enough! My inquisitive mind and avid curiosity led me through all of the training options offered to becoming a mentor, and it has been an extraordinary fulfilling experience. Initially, my intention was to keep immersing myself in this model and continue learning deeper and deeper aspects, however as I went through the mentor training I realised how much I enjoyed supporting others in refining and owning their skills. You can expect a collaborative experience, where together we will explore the different possibilities within the Compassionate Inquiry approach, whilst paying attention to detail and striving for excellence.

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Location: Calista WA, Australia
Email: [email protected]