SHALYN ISAACS
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Trauma-Informed Career & Financial Therapy
With Women of Color
There is an ancient Buddhist story of a diamond that was buried
beneath layers of mud. These layers made it difficult to see
the radiance of the diamond underneath.
However, after digging through the layers of muck,
one was able to see that the diamond was always a diamond,
despite the layers that were concealing it's true presence.
I regard the work of psychotherapy as the practice of recovering
the diamond that rests within every individual.
Shalyn Isaacs, B.A, M.Ed
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
| Certified Trauma of Money Facilitator
Healing trauma allows us to make choices with our careers and finances that uplift ourselves and our communities.
My work supports Women of Color with healing trauma in ways that help them engage with their careers and finances in intentional, empowering ways.
Common Issues I Support People With Include:
Trauma (sexual, emotional, racial, intergenerational), Self-Esteem Issues, Relationships With Career / Money, ''People-Pleasing'' Behaviors,
Anxiety, Depression, Stress, Career Transitions, Emotional Regulation,
Self-Care Guilt, Mind-Body Connection, Leadership Development,
Navigating Unequal Power Dynamics, Setting Healthy Boundaries, Codependency, Workplace Mental Health, Communication Issues, Creativity, Spirituality, Racism/Sexism in the Workplace,
Self-Expression, Entrepreneurship Mental Health, and more.
What is Career & Financial Empowerment?
*Note: I work with people of all racial and cultural backgrounds, gender identities and abilities - however, due to my lived experiences and social identities, I have specialized knowledge and experience in supporting the mental health and career journeys of women of color.
Being able to make choices in our careers from a place of understanding who we truly are and what we want to experience or create according to our values is how I define career empowerment. Financial empowerment can be defined as having the confidence and knowledge of how to build and use wealth to promote the healing and wellness of ourselves, our communities and the planet.
What Does Trauma and Mental Health Have to Do With It?
Experiences of trauma and receiving messages from society embedded in racism, sexism, capitalism, etc can make us feel disconnected from who we really are and what we want. Especially for Women of Color, we may start to navigate our careers and finances through our trauma responses (fight, flight, freeze, appease, dissociate) and who we think others want us to be – rather than from a place of having deep trust within ourselves.
I support Women of Color with healing from trauma and reconnecting to their true selves in order to navigate their career and financial journeys from a place of empowerment and connection to their core values. My joy is in supporting you with reclaiming your power to create change within yourself, your relationships and communities through making empowered choices in your career and wealth journey.
Background / Experience
I received my BA in Honors Psychology from York University and M.Ed in Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto. While working as a Leadership Coach, I developed and facilitated workshops for hundreds of people on the interconnections between mental health, leadership and social change. I am the Founder and past President of a mental health organization - Women's Mental Health Talks at York University. I have received mentorship in mental health care leadership through being on the Board of Directors at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada's largest mental health institution.
I am a Certified Trauma of Money Facilitator and am currently completing training in the Certified Clinical Trauma Professional Certification program. I have received post-graduate training in Somatics & embodiment from the Trauma and Embodiment Association of Ontario. Additionally, I have completed diverse research projects in the areas of somatics, trauma and anti-oppression.
I regard my years of lived experience with learning to heal from the trauma of navigating racism, sexism, and classism in diverse academic and corporate institutions as the primary skill that supports me with doing this work and offering compassionate spaces to others navigating their own journeys in these systems.
My Approach to Psychotherapy:
An anti-oppressive, trauma-informed approach to mental health
that supports career & financial empowerment among Women of Color
Trauma-Informed, Compassionate & Anti-Oppressive:
Together, we can explore and heal beliefs that may be connected to trauma and/or messages you have received from your family, culture or society (i.e work, media, school, religion, etc). From a compassionate lens, I will support you with releasing ''stuck'' beliefs and behaviors that are effecting your career and financial journey. Through a slow, gradual process of healing past trauma, we will work together to support you in becoming free from cycles that perpetuate suffering so that you can make choices that are aligned with your values.
Through engaging in gentle insight and mindfulness practice, I will support you with developing new thoughts/beliefs/behaviors that can support you with engaging with your life and career from a place of inner wisdom and empowerment rather than survival.
I draw upon the teachings of Buddhist Psychology, Yoga,
trauma-informed theory and decolonzing frameworks.
Somatic (Body-Based) Psychotherapy
In somatic therapy, we learn to see the body as a source of wisdom and guidance. Somatic (body-based) therapy can support trauma resolution, emotional regulation, and help you to release old thoughts and behaviors that no longer serve your well-being. A somatic approach can help you with accessing feelings of inner safety, creativity, connection, and your own inner wisdom and intuition to support your decision-making. You will receive tools and resources for supporting you with using your healing for creating changes in yourself, relationships and career.
I draw on trauma-informed somatic therapy approaches including teachings from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Internal Family Systems (IFS).
I believe that the change that happens when women from marginalized communities feel safe engaging with money and their careers in empowering ways is change that trickles into their families, relationships and communities in ways that can create generational healing.
As Seen On:
Clicking on one of the below icons will take you to an interview I was featured in or a project/workshop I facilitated.
