Hello, you!
Do you get overwhelmed when there is a lot going on around you or you have a lot to do in a short amount of time?
Do you feel sad or lonely? Have you always felt different or flawed?
Do you experience emotions on a deeper level than other people you know?
Do you startle easily or find loud noises and chaotic environments difficult?
Do you seem to need more "downtime" than others?
Are you a Baby Boomer and experiencing or have experienced a significant loss and are still trying to cope?
If so, you need to know there is help and hope. I specialize in dealing with grief and loss (including pet loss), issues facing baby boomers as we age, and challenges faced by highly sensitive persons.
Calm Life
Counseling
“Healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls our lives.”
"Life is difficult." This is the first sentence in the book "The Road Less Traveled" by M. Scott Peck. Truer words have never been spoken.
I know this personally and professionally. Sometimes we just need a third party to help us get through a difficult time. There is no shame in talking with someone, but in our culture this process is not valued. I believe seeking counseling is a courageous act, not a weakness. It is not easy to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and do self-reflection.
I AM
ONE OF “US”
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
Vicki Quarles
Highly sensitive person
As a Highly Sensitive Person (scientifically known as a Sensory-Processing Sensitivity), I have a passion for helping other HSP's learn to accept their trait and be able to navigate life in a better and different way. As a Baby Boomer myself, I also enjoy and specialize in assisting my fellow "Boomers" with issues of grief and loss that come with aging.
It was not until I 47 years old that I learned that I am a Highly Sensitive Person.
At the age of 47, I read a book called The Introvert Advantage because I wanted to try and understand why I needed to be alone so often and have more “downtime” than other people I knew. I had always felt different and did not know why. While this book resonated with me to some degree, it did not explain everything. In the book, however, she referenced another book called The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron, Ph.D.
Normal. Just different.
The title caught my attention. At my first opportunity, I went to the library and checked out this book. I think it took me all of two or three days to finish. I could hardly put it down. I was overwhelmed with emotion as I felt like she had written this book just for me. It suddenly all made sense. I was not flawed or defective. I was just different. There was nothing wrong with me! It was incredibly validating and literally life-changing.
My passion for helping other Highly Sensitive People is a direct result of my own struggles to come to terms with this normal trait. I have learned to fully integrate it into who I am and not only accept it but to embrace it. However, it has not been an easy journey. I understand the pain that comes with being different.
“I took a weight to Vicki that I had been carrying around a long time. She listened so patiently and compassionately, and then gave me resources and tools that let me finally set the weight down. This is not just fluff or schmaltz for the website. I am a different person: happier, more fulfilled, more confident, and more at peace. Don't doubt that you can be, too. Thank you, Vicki, from the bottom of my heart.” - client S. H.
Professional CREDENTIALS, too
“The purpose of psychotherapy is to set people free.”
I have the life experience AND professional education to help you gain some peace and stability. After experiencing a lifetime of depression and loss, I went through counseling in my late thirties and was then able to attend graduate school at the age of 40.
[More here about how you turned the awareness of being a highly sensitive person into a desire to understand your own condition and to learn enough about it to help others.]
I'm also starting a Grief Counseling Certification course on-line that will take several months. [<< Exactly what do you want to say about this?]
Safe and
secure
Calm Life Counseling operates under the highest standards of safety and security.