My Approach & Methodology

When choosing a guide on your journey, it’s vital to understand how they approach the work.

Do you recognize yourself in any of these scenarios?

  • The constant barrage of 'impending doom' has left you in an existential crisis, caught between 'why bother' and 'what can I do?'

  • You've been questioning and feeling for awhile that there’s more to your life, but you feel lost and unsure of what your 'thing' is.

  • You’re stirred to do something beyond the rut you're in, but you lack clarity about what you'd like to do.

  • You have the vision of what you want to do, but you lack the confidence to put yourself out there, struggling to articulate your vision and how to bring it forth.

  • You've been dabbling in many things, chasing the many ideas you have, but feeling stuck and spinning in place.

  • You're questioning if the only way to ‘earn a living' is within a soul-deadening system devoid of meaning and purpose?

  • You're in a stage in your life and work, where you want to do something that feels more aligned and expressive of who you are now. But how?

If you answered yes to any of the above…
It hasn’t been for lack of trying.

You’ve read the books, signed up for online courses, joined groups and masterminds, gone to workshops, explored these issues in therapy, and even worked with a coach. 

No work done in this area is unfruitful. All you’ve tried helped you gain insight and perspective on your quest for answers. But you still feel something is missing, and you’re struggling to move ahead. 

Then Life Purpose Coaching might be for you

The spiral of self-discovery and healing

Exploring who you are and your purpose on this journey, so-called life is more like a nautilus than a straight-shot road with a well-marked destination.

At each turn of your life’s spiral, a new discovery or insight leads you deeper toward unfurling what’s deep within you.

It takes letting go of your desire for clear answers (now!) to engage more imaginatively with what’s rising - letting the answers unfurl. Or, at times, quieting the competing voices to listen to that quiet voice that has been trying to catch your attention for so long. It’s about following what sparks your joy, the small pleasures so often discarded as impractical.

You do this by exploring and examining the repetitive patterns that appear in all areas of your life—paying attention to your daydreams, night dreams, and flights of fancy.

Remembering what gave you pleasure and joy as a kid, reawakening old passions, and being open to trying new ones.

How coaching can help you on your journey

Coaching is about the depth and mutual commitment of both parties. How you show up, your engagement with the coaching process, and what I bring to our journey are the vessels and alchemy of our work together.

When we work together, I become your partner in exploring ideas, possibilities, and the hidden gems in your story. Coaching is an approach of depth in listening and inquiry that helps you find answers waiting for you.

Along with my depth approach, I also use astrology as a navigational tool in our journey.

Exploring your birth chart from an archetypal and psychological perspective gives us an incomparable and nuanced view of your soul’s development, life purpose markers, and unique gifts and talents.

Astrology is both a methodology and a developmental compass for our lives and a potent tool for self-understanding, especially when exploring your life purpose and livelihood.

My approach is therapeutic in style, depth-oriented, and focused on helping you see yourself from a broader and more empowering perspective so that you can claim all the spokes of your life’s wheel and bring your gifts to the world.

  • Inspiration & tools to create fulfillment

    I would recommend Vanessa to anyone who enjoys visiting things on a deeper and philosophical level, who also enjoys symbolism, mythology and astrology, and who enjoys working on tangents as much as they do the thing they (think) they’re working with her for.

    I am emerging from our time together with a new inner peace and quiet knowing that I have the inspiration and tools I need to create fulfillment for myself and (hopefully) others.

    Tonia Jenny - Editor & Designer

  • A real departure from others in her field

    Vanessa describes the wisdom of a chart with rich, descriptive language, brimming with mythological imagery that makes her work both beautiful and relatable.

    She comes to the table with an approach that is both intellectual and poetically lyrical and which is grounded in the archetypes found in mythology, psychology, philosophy, and literature.

    Her methods have greatly demystified the journey and give me fuel for the fire of my creative dreams.

    Darcy Molloy - Healer, Channel, Personal Alchemy

  • Helped me clarify a vision for moving forward

    Vanessa helped me clarify a vision for moving forward into the next chapter of my life. Like the ideal midwife or doula, gently coaching through the birthing process, she knows exactly when to push and when to breathe.

    Her style of support is highly intuitive, intelligent, humorous, and very wise. I loved our time together and would recommend her to anyone questioning their next steps in their career and clarifying their purpose in life.

    Nikki Fenix - Creative, Women’s Mentor & Photographer

  • Renewed sense of joy and purpose

    I really enjoyed the way Vanessa supported my use of creative practices to take a deeper dive into my beliefs about myself and my relationship with the world.

    Vanessa is incredibly generous with her knowledge and experience. Every interaction was meaningful and deeply personal. She has a gift for tracking the details, large and small, of a person’s life and masterfully connecting the dots.

    If you are open to and curious about the intersection of astrology, mythology, art, play, and humor in your life, this powerful coaching approach is for you.

    Marta L. - Massage Therapist

  • A loving guide and a knowing teacher

    My work with Vanessa was not coaching for career or life plans because I have retired from my working career. I wanted to gain a sense of ease in my emotional life and a sense of ‘I am OK’ after going through big life changes.

    Vanessa coached me to see the big picture-the arc of my life- and to see that what I had done with this life was indeed coherent. She helped me remember with mythic story, intelligent astrology, and heartfelt wisdom and humor.

    She helped me remember myself and not get bamboozled with the emotional stumbling that veils our life’s path. And to have the weekly touchstone with Vanessa kept me feeling –oh yes, that is what I am doing. I am finding myself.

    She is a loving guide and a knowing teacher.

    M.S. - Teacher & Artist

  • Tie it all together to one's personal story

    Vanessa’s archetypal lens offers a tending of the soul, a deep unlocking of one’s potential. She is a skilled astrologer who guides you with joyful curiosity and finds ways to capture the soul essence of everything.

    Vanessa’s background as a compassionate educator brings in a fun approach that is very satisfying for the desire to understand the mechanics of it all.

    Her coaching abilities provide assistance during times of transition.

    Melanie C.S. - Sound Healer & Facilitator

  • Feel good about myself

    I’ve taken virtual classes/workshops with Vanessa, always appreciate
updates on her blog.

    You can learn a great deal but also feel like you’ve just spent an hour with a good friend. And her personal warmth and engaging sense of humor are gifts she freely shares at live events.

    She makes me feel good about myself and the world,
and I look forward to experiencing whatever she does next!

    Marianne Taylor

My approach & intention

My approach to this work weaves depth psychology and imagination with a therapeutic touch.

While coaching isn’t psychotherapy, I believe that by examining our past from a broader perspective and listening deeply to the images that arise from the stories we tell, we’re better able to find the gold hidden in our stories.

The future we desire has its seeds in the past. But the past isn’t static because each time we explore it with fresh eyes, we reimagine and expand our stories and, thus, our potential and possibilities.

My approach isn’t to tell you what to do or focus only on your future desires and dreams. It’s about understanding who you are, where you came from, how you create and relate, and how you express your beingness in your life, creations, work, and service to your wider community.

My intention for doing this work is to help folks find joy and fulfillment in their creative endeavors, whether in life or in their work in the world.

As poet Kahlil Gibran wrote in The Prophet, "Work is love made visible." I wholeheartedly believe that one way we express our love for ourselves, others, and the world is through what we birth into the world - be it through our creativity or our work.

I hope I can serve as a midwife in how you birth your love in the world.

These tools guide
my work.

  • Archetypal Astrology

  • Storytelling - myths & fairy tales

  • Depth Psychology Counseling

  • Mental Health Coaching, and

  • Teaching

How I work

Coaching is about the depth and mutual commitment of both parties. How you show up, your engagement with the coaching process, and what I bring to our journey are the vessels and alchemy of our work together.

When we work together, I become your partner in exploring ideas, possibilities, and the hidden gems in your story. Coaching is an approach of depth in listening and inquiry that helps you find answers waiting for you.

Along with my depth approach, I also use astrology as a navigational tool in our journey.

Exploring your birth chart from an archetypal and psychological perspective gives us an incomparable and nuanced view of your soul’s development, life purpose markers, and unique gifts and talents.

Astrology is both a methodology and a developmental compass for our lives and a potent tool for self-understanding, especially when exploring your life purpose and livelihood.

My approach is therapeutic in style, depth-oriented, and focused on helping you see yourself from a broader and more empowering perspective so that you can claim all the spokes of your life’s wheel and bring your gifts to the world.

Areas we explore in our work together

  • Essential Self

    Our work together will involve exploring what makes you - YOU - and reimagining your inner and outer resources, talents, and skills.
    Because when you’re stuck, it’s time to go back to basics and reassess your untapped inner gold.

  • Creative Self

    Work and creative expression issues have deep roots in your origins. Your life’s work - be it your career and creative expression have roots in your family, ancestral lines, and the unlived lives of your parents.

  • Relational Self

    As a protagonist of your fairy tale, your quest for purpose and meaning isn’t in a vacuum. What you find informs your relationships beyond your intimate circles. It shows up in healing your inherited family dynamics while also informing your life’s motto.

  • Social-Spiritual Self

    What you bring forth through your quest, be it through your creative life and work, will ripple through the fabric of your community beyond what you can imagine. Pursuing purpose and meaning is both a social and a spiritual journey.

What to expect

Through our time together, I’ll blend my coaching and astrological consulting approaches.

I’ll help you access the answers that await inside of you through deep and reflective listening and questioning. To me, coaching is a blend of in-depth conversation and a container, a vessel that welcomes with curiosity what rises.

Often, what is touched on during our time together continues to percolate between sessions, and new insights and inspiration come into consciousness. What happens during our sessions goes way beyond those minutes spent together.

Because when we sit with another who is listening intensely to us while reflecting on key elements of our in-depth conversation, seeing things more clearly and shifting our perspective happens with more ease.

But I’ll also put my consultant hat on to provide you with strategic and practical recommendations of how you can best approach the situation or issue you want us to focus on during our time together.

However, remember that I’m not here to tell you what to do – as that isn’t empowering to your growth and self-sovereignty.

Any recommendation I bring forth is only to serve you as a springboard of exploration and measured by how it resonates and feels in alignment with you.

What not to expect from our work together

  • ‘Solve all things’ & ‘fix it’ all at once

  • Bring everything plus the ‘kitchen sink’ and expect it all to be solved with one big bang of clarity

  • Guaranteed success and cookie-cutter solutions

  • Expect change to come quickly and easily

  • Expect advice and ready answers

  • Not do the work beyond our time together

If you like my approach,
let’s work together.

Purpose Coaching & Mentoring

This is when guidance, through focused coaching and mentoring, can help you widen your perspective, gain insights and clarity, and take action to move forward on your path.

Cosmos & You

This is a 12-month program that combines astrology with coaching/mentoring to help you get to know yourself better and make the most of the current transits affecting your life.

An invitation for some reflection

Behind the question - What’s my life purpose?

The question of vocation, or its many variants, is often confused with profession or career. Vocation has its root in the Latin word VOCA, meaning ‘VOICE.’

Thus its original meaning was about FOLLOWING ONE’S CALLING. It’s about your quest to find your authentic voice in the world, aligning you to that which wants to be BIRTHED THROUGH YOU. 

At its deepest root, finding your LIFE’S PURPOSE or answering the call of your VOCATION is the synthesis of your LIFE’S WORK, or as the alchemists called: YOUR OPUS.

This OPUS, the great work, is a lifelong process of deepening how you EXPRESS YOURSELF MORE FULLY IN THE WORLD.

Purpose and Vocation aren’t a one-and-done deal, where you receive the envelope addressed to you with clear and well-marked instructions.

When it comes to PURPOSE and VOCATION, you’re dealing with a summons from deep within, beckoning you to GIVE IT FORM AND LIFE.

The intersection of our purpose and these times in the world

What the world needs from us is that we answer the yearning of our souls and discover what we’re born to BE and DO.

You’re here to become who you are fully, reclaim your unexpressed self, and bring your INNER GOLD to the world. 

The work involves peeling back the layers that cloud your vision and sense of possibility.

With all that’s unfolding in the world and perhaps in your own life, these last few years have made you rethink, even reimagine, the intersection of who you are and what you do creatively or for work.

Because it’s times such as these, chaotic and yet highly creative, you’re invited to reimagine the thin line between who you are, what gives you joy and meaning, and how you share your gifts with the world.

It’s about BECOMING WHO YOU ARE – more fully and wholly. 

Clarity unfurls with time and action

It’s normal to feel anxious when you’re in a state of not knowing or being unable to see the path ahead clearly. Your Ego gets all impatient and starts demanding clarity – now. 

This impatience can make you feel that you don’t have much time and must ‘get on with it.’

However, impatience is the enemy of clarity. 

Clarity invites you to realign with your rhythm, slow down and see what rises from within, both in body and soul. 

The clarity you want is about UNFURLING. It’s about going deeper into your spiral, showing up with CURIOSITY and a BEGINNER’S MIND of POSSIBILITIES. 

It invites willingness to explore the story you’ve been telling yourself in-depth because the INNER GOLD is hidden in the pain of the problem you’re stuck on.

Although this unfurling has its rhythm and time, it doesn’t mean it’s static. It invites you to TAKE ACTION—small iterative steps towards your vision. 

Each action taken is a stage for unfurling the clarity you seek.

Guidance is a perspective to help you see what you’re not seeing or resisting seeing. It’s to help you align with what is unfolding in your path, calling you to embrace and invite you to explore.

Perspective requires trust and respect for the journey you’ve done thus far, your strengths and growing edges, and, ultimately, your individuality.

As the cornerstone of my work, perspective is linked to its origin, which means ‘looking closely.'

While also not missing the opportunity to expand our sights and see how your life intersects with the bigger picture of our current times.

Got Questions?

We have answers.

If you have an inquiry, please don't hesitate to contact us. We will reply as soon as possible.