I’m Paula, a Buddhist Chaplain and Wellness Coach who believes that especially post-pandemic, grief is a unique yet universal experience that needs to be witnessed and seen in order to be healed. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that is grief averse (at best) and few of us are comfortable knowing what to say and do. With the shortage and crisis of mental health providers, health and wellness coaches can fill an important gap when given grief-coaching education and reresouces.When I wrote my book, “From Grief to Growth” I did it through the lens of wellness coaching. That’s when I realized Wellness coaches are uniquely positioned, and have the skills, to do this when they understand the connection between unresolved grief and adverse health conditions. I believe coaches that are deeply caring and empathetic have the ability to transform their clients' lives and make a greater impact when they learn how to compassionately connect and address the mind/body experience of grief and loss (without a fad diet or that ‘last five pounds'). It took me experiencing the unexpected death of my oldest son, studying wisdom and compassion with a world-renowned teacher, and working as a chaplain in a level one trauma center to hone the skills necessary to comfortably use wellness coaching as a tool for healing grief and be comfortable. I’ve transformed all that into comprehensive grief and loss courses and continuing education to empower compassionate coaches so that they have a unique and meaningful niche that will make them stand out from the crowd and add value to our communities. Because this type of work requires compassion, deep listening skills, and humility, I work best with coaches who want to deepen their practice beyond weight loss and fad diet paradigms. Speaking truth to your strengths and stories in a meaningful and authentic way helps grow coaches into this work with “a strong back and a soft front” (as my Buddhist Teacher is fond of saying). I’ll help coaches grow thier business (without burnout or compassion fatigue) to be more aligned with their true purpose and give deeper meaning to their work so that they can change lives and make the money they deserve.