Life Coaching For Survivors

Are you ready to take the next step in leaving the past behind and creating a new life for yourself?

Survivors have the ability to create the same beautiful life experiences, accomplishments and fulfilled dreams as others. But sometimes in our journey, we get stuck in our traumatic world and struggle to find the freedom we so desperately seek.

There are parts of us that are afraid to let go of old familiar patterns even though the results are painful.  It’s all we know. But it is possible to release the hold these patterns have on our life today and to become more than we expected or thought was possible.

But it’s almost impossible to do on your own. It takes a fresh pair of eyes to uncover what you’ve spent a lifetime trying to forget. Not just memories, although you may uncover some of those, but the thought patterns, messages and beliefs that are driving your choices today. 

Because it’s what’s left over after the abuse, neglect and trauma has ended that is causing you so much pain today. And not only causing you pain but keeping you in a cycle of behaviour that keeps delivering the very results you’re trying so hard to escape.

It’s not your fault.

The parts of you that have helped you survive your childhood are still trying to keep you safe today. But now that you’re an adult a lot of their methods stand in the way of everything you truly want.

Think about it like this. If you behaved a certain way and were punished for it, parts of you will be working to keep you from experiencing that punishment again. If you never received love as a child, parts of you will continue looking for it today. Unfortunately, these parts of you never grew up and are continuing to look in all the wrong places for the results they need.

It makes sense doesn’t it?

Hi, I’m Elisabeth Corey and as a survivor of family-controlled sex abuse and trafficking, I understand how hard it is to step out of the darkness and bring light to the shadows that haunt us. It’s my own journey, together with my training as a life coach for trauma survivors, that allows me to support you in the practice of the daily awareness techniques that are essential in revealing the long hidden beliefs that are holding you back.

Together we will create new strategies and solutions to take your life to the next level

Survivor Guidance: A Guided Path in your Recovery

Over many years of working with survivors, I’ve developed a range of guidance tools to help you uncover the places in your life where you feel most affected by your childhood trauma. Together with one-to-one discussions, we will work to discover the areas of your life that feel most in need of improvement and to identify the beliefs that have created the old trauma patterns you’re repeating today. As we begin an inner conversation to shift those patterns and beliefs, we will begin to create freedom for the future.

Using five key guidance tools, we will work together to raise your awareness through writing. Each tool will include a guided question and answer session carefully crafted to meet your needs. In addition to the tools, we will consult once per week (over a five week period) by phone or Skype to discuss and reflect on your responses to the written guidance.

As you move towards greater self-awareness and work through your traumatic experiences, the recovery that has appeared immovable in the past will begin to take shape allowing you to finally discover your ultimate, peaceful self that has been waiting to emerge.

This ‘process’ needs to be taught to other therapists and counselors!! This needs to be offered everywhere and easily accessible to everyone! I just lucked upon this when I was scrolling through Facebook one day. So many people could be healed by this work. At its core is the principle that you have to Love Yourself (all the parts of yourself). Understanding the Inner Child and Inner Defender…that was amazing! It seemed to pull it all together for me. It explained a lot about the decisions that I’ve made as an adult….as well as the things that I’ve ignored/blocked.
Joanie

I almost can’t believe how simple, tangible, and practical this process is that you have taught me. I know it will work for anything that comes up for me. I have easily continued to write from these parts, and it is fail-proof and productive. Most importantly, in addition to actually processing the trauma and the emotions, it gives me nearly instant separation from those parts, which allows self-love and acceptance to flow into those newly excavated spaces. You have changed my life.
Kara Szymanski

If Elisabeth had never had the bravery to put her work out there in a field where people without Ph.D.s and ABCDEFGs behind their names don’t get much credibility, I might have continued plodding along in my recovery on my own, sure, but I would never have come this far in such a short period of time without the relationship I have built with myself and my inner parts which is what enables my bravery. Not many people can accompany survivors down this path and certainly not with the kind of steadiness and belief in a person’s ability to heal themselves as Elisabeth does. The fact that she’s walked this road herself making it all the more convincing that it can be done.
Megan Keller

Writer

Here’s how it works:

  • We will discover how your past trauma is impacting your current life
  • We will identify the traumatic patterns in your life
  • We will begin a conversation with your separated inner parts to discover the messages and defence mechanisms that are running your life
  • We will build a process that allows your inner parts to express their emotions and share information
  • We will develop a series of actions for building awareness and releasing your trauma

Are you ready to take the first steps toward guided awareness in your recovery process?

Contact me for a FREE preliminary call to discuss whether the sessions are right for you.

CONTACT ME TODAY
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Why are you a life coach?
Even with a social work degree, I made the decision not to become a clinical therapist. I wanted to be a life coach. Why? I didn’t want to be restricted in my approach. What does that mean? I base my work with clients on my own healing process. My experiences deeply inform my work. This means I am personally familiar with the healing steps and what happens when we take them. My approach doesn’t perfectly fit in to any model used by clinicians today. That said, it does have many similarities to Internal Family Systems which I am grateful to see gaining popularity in clinical circles. Clinical approaches tend to use labels for trauma responses, creating separation. My approach focuses on how our trauma can bring us together. I use my own stories of trauma and recovery to reduce the isolation and shame my clients often feel. This sharing, which is generally not accepted in the clinical world, is the basis for my work and fuels much of the success. I often work with clients who are also working with therapists. Clients have found it very beneficial. I can help to uncover new aspects of the trauma through awareness building, informing therapy sessions in new ways. I refer to it as an acceleration program.
What is parts work?
When I discovered I experienced trauma, I became obsessed with healing. This obsession came from a few places. First, one of my responses to trauma was to develop an “all or nothing” personality. Second, I finally knew the source of my constant inner chaos and felt like I could make it stop somehow. In other words, I had hope. Third, I had a life to live, and I was ready to get started. I learned a tremendous amount in a short time. I researched everything I could find. It also helped that I was studying for my M.S.W. Books were easy to find. But even with all my reading, something was missing. The dots weren’t connecting. It all seemed too simplified, too “surfacey”. But I didn’t give up. Gradually, I uncovered something that would change my life. While it was informed by various readings, it was never fully covered in any text I read. I recognized that the chatter in my head was not me. It was me, but it wasn’t. It was inner parts who held different experiences and emotions about the past. They each had a different take on life. And I had been attempting to ignore, even eradicate, almost all of them. As I came to understand my parts, I realized they were manifesting my life. While they remained unconscious, their beliefs became my experience. It explained so much. I realized that my treatment of these parts was mirroring my external relationships. That was not good. But I also learned they weren’t trying to do me any harm. Even the meanest parts were attempting to help, based on the world they experienced. They were stuck in the past and attempting to keep me safe and loved using the only strategies they knew. As I realized this, I also learned that I could help them. I could empower myself to heal them, teach them and partner with them to grow the entire family system out of the old traumatic cycles. At first, I hated all that responsibility. It felt like another thing I had to do because my parents failed. And that was true. But on the flip side, I could take responsibility for my own healing. I didn’t have to wait for a miracle or a savior any longer. In my own life, the results have been phenomenal. I have stopped most of the chatter in my head (except for the bad days which still come). I have cleared up untreatable illnesses doctors told me would never go away. I have reduced my emotional responses to triggers from debilitating and intrusive to the occasional bad moment. As I have brought this to others, I have come to understand there are more commonalities than I thought. While we all have different parts, they tend to have similar desires and needs. And I have been able to help so many other survivors discover their own inner conversation.
Why does your program work?
It is individualized. My one-on-one work is always tailored to the individual client. While there are commonalities in recovery, my program is based on where you are and what situation is currently causing you the most pain. I have learned that each client has a direction they need to go, even if they aren’t consciously aware of it. And a one-size-fits-all program won’t work for that. We will be guided by your parts to the next best step in your healing. It promotes autonomy. While I definitely have clients who work with me on an ongoing basis, my goal is to teach you tools and techniques which can be used anytime. When you understand my journaling techniques, you don’t have to wait for an appointment to process your traumatic responses and release the pain coming from the past. You will have the skills to take it on. You are not alone in your journey toward healing, but you are in charge. It is empowering. The most amazing aspect of parts work is how it moves you from the victim to the healer. Before parts work, all those thoughts and emotions were assumed to be yours. They felt like they were about the present moment. Once you start using parts work, you come to understand those emotions and thoughts belong to your parts who are stuck in the past. And you are the healer they are looking for. This is an empowering shift in mindset. It reduces shame. The main reason I became a life coach is to reduce shame through my interaction with clients. There is only one phrase that reduces shame more than “I believe you”. That phrase is “me too”. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t pretend to relate when I don’t. But even when our trauma is different, our response to it is incredibly similar. And the shame we hold from our trauma is powered by our isolation. It is in community that healing happens, whether that is a community of fifty people, or two people.
My trauma and dissociation is severe. Can you help me?
My own trauma and dissociation has been severe. I have Dissociative Identity Disorder and used memory repression as a defense mechanism. I have struggled with severe anxiety most of my life. If anyone gets the struggles of intense traumatic response, I do. Severe symptoms do not eliminate inner parts awareness work. In many cases, it can be more helpful because the parts are louder and more active. It can also be helpful to diversify your approaches to recovery. Clinical therapy, life coaching and body work are viable options that can be used together.
I am not sure I have trauma. But I relate to everything you write. Can you help me?
Trauma is often touted as a severe occurrence or series of events, the kind of experiences that are reported in newspapers. But trauma doesn’t always look like that. I like to say that “trauma isn’t always drama”. Many people have traumatic responses to childhood experiences that would not be defined as trauma today. For example, conditional love is traumatic. It teaches us we can’t be who we are. The more conditional the love, the more likely we are repeating traumatic patterns through difficult or even violent adult relationships. There another side to this too. We may not feel like we have trauma. We may not suffer from any visible or debilitating signs of trauma. We may be making our way through life with the low hum (or high hum) of anxiety buzzing under the surface. We may be looking to go from good to great, to find the beliefs holding us back in life. Inner parts work can help with all of this. And with less severe symptoms, it can often help in a shorter time frame.
There might be something I don’t remember. Can you help me with recovering memories?
If you feel like there is something you don’t remember, there is likely something you don’t remember. Why? Your defenses will try to tell you there is nothing to remember. Your family will tell you there is nothing to remember. Society will tell you there is nothing to remember. Even therapists will sometimes tell you it doesn’t help to remember. If you still feel like something has been repressed, your intuition is strong enough to be heard over those defenses. You need to listen to it.
I am not very good at writing. Will I be able to succeed at your program?
Your inner perfectionist might be concerned about writing. I understand. But this writing is different. I am not looking for grammatical and spelling perfection. This writing comes from the inner parts. It might come in single words, stream of consciousness or seemingly incoherent jumble. All of it is great. It is a window to your unconscious. Suspend your self-judgment long enough to give it a try. You might find a new passion in writing without editing.
I have a therapist already. Why should I work with you too?
While many therapists are wounded healers like me, many others are not. I am able to take this work to deep levels because I have been through my own deep recovery efforts. I know what to look for. I know how defenders will derail the process. I know how inner children manifest their needs. I can take you in a new direction which can inform your therapy visits in new ways. I have partnered with many therapists to create a very positive experience for my clients.
What are my options for working with you?

I offer the 5 week guidance program as an initial approach to working with me one-on-one.  This program includes 5 weekly consultations and guidance tools with unlimited email communication.  This program costs $595. Upon completion of the 5 week guidance program, I offer ongoing programs with options for bi-weekly, weekly and twice weekly consultations or email only. Contact me for a free preliminary call to discuss whether survivor sessions are right for you.

After years of self help and therapy, I by chance found Elisabeth’s blog. Immediately her work resonated with me. With a brave heart I embarked on her 5 week guidance program. It was the best decision I have ever made! I came further in my recovery in 5 weeks than I had in almost 4 months with a psychotherapist. The work was intense and so very rewarding. The accountability of weekly calls was a vital part of the program. Although there were weeks that my “inner defender” kept me from being productive, Elisabeth showed me that even those weeks were progress because I was able to identify why and what was holding me back. For me, meeting my inner child was truly life changing. This part of the program alone has helped me fall in love with the most important person in my life…ME. In my 42 years on this earth, I have never known how it feels to have empathy and love for all parts of me, especially the broken ones. If you are on the fence about trying the program, I implore you to do it. It is a journey into self discovery that could possibly change everything, as it did for me. Elisabeth will be the most gentle, caring and knowledgeable tour guide into the undiscovered parts of yourself.
Amy Gupta

I knew I had experienced a difficult upbringing, and that it had affected me deeply, but it wasn’t until I met Elisabeth that something she said really got me thinking. I had spent many years struggling to focus as my mind was constantly busy. I used to refer to it as if 10 things were going on at the same time, all of the time. As I matured and came to understand the term Attention Deficit Disorder, I believed that somehow this must apply to me. Many of the described symptoms seemed to fit; the inability to focus, the boredom I felt so much of the time, the detachment from other people and the constant need for new and stimulating projects to keep me ‘sane’. Listening to Elisabeth talk about what happens when a child experiences trauma and how different part of the personality take on different roles, I had what I like to call a ‘light bulb moment’ as if a switch suddenly turned on in my brain. What if it wasn’t Attention Deficit Disorder but a reaction to trauma? Working with Elisabeth has given me the key to unlock the door to everything I have worked so hard for. Her unique way of understanding the effect that trauma has on a child’s spirit has allowed me to heal parts of me that I didn’t know existed. Elisabeth will always hold a special place in my heart and I am eternally grateful for her guidance and support as I continue to work toward growing the wings to fly.
Allanah Hunt

CONTACT ME TODAY