About Eric
About Eric. I’m a human (well, mostly?) I also currently identify as a coach, healer, & guide, nature, psyche, & spirit co-creator, (re)searcher, and coherence consultant.
My journey (to this work)
Early emergence and neurodivergence
My journey to becoming a coach, healer, and guide (consciously) began in my mid-20s. During this period, I went through a particularly difficult and disorienting time (my first positive disintegration, which was medically labelled as major depressive episode).
I was disillusioned with my corporate career, doubtful about my competency as a new father, and unsure of who I really was underneath my many adaptations.
Though I felt hesitant and afraid to ask for help, I managed to muster the courage to call a counsellor (thankfully, a wise and very open-minded Jungian Analyst).
Over the ensuing months, I worked through (a lot of) pain, overcame problematic coping behaviours, and began unearthing my true self (my soul)—a process which (of course?) continues to this day.
Though this work was extremely difficult, it was also incredibly rewarding. My world took on new depth, rich colour. My life became more meaningful.
I discovered my neurodivergence through this ongoing healing process (though I prefer Lindsey Mackereth’s term, neurocomplexity, which she defines as the intersection of neurodivergent wiring that includes increased complexity in the areas of cognition, sensory receptivity, attention, creativity, and/or intuition).
I fall somewhere in the high+ gifted range with an (interesting) assemblage of ADHD and autism traits. I’m also highly (energy) sensitive.
A wounded healer
My experience as a therapy client compelled me to become a counsellor and therapist myself. After much fear and trembling, I enrolled in a Masters-level spiritual care and psychotherapy program at Wilfrid Laurier University (which I completed in 2013). This decision opened doors (both external and internal) I never knew existed.
I started a counselling, coaching, and psychotherapy private practice geared toward serving neurodivergent folks in 2016.
I permeated my practice with ecopsychological/ecotherapeutic insights and practices [my second Masters degree (2013-2015) and my PhD (2015-2019) were intimately informed by ecopsychological ideas—I was obsessed with this field several years].
In 2017, I became a fully fledged Registered Psychotherapist.
David Whyte
What shape waits in the seed of you to grow and spread its branches against a future sky?
Enter: intuition, energy, and spirituality
Energy work
In 2019, I was introduced to energy work and energy healing. I was highly skeptical: it seemed quite pseudo-scientific and magical to me.
Though I was (very) reluctant, I pushed myself and explored further. I began attending weekly energy work training sessions and slowly integrating some ‘basic’ energy work practices into my daily routine.
I noticed that the start of my daily energy work practice correlated intimately with intuition enhancement.
After a few months of daily energy work practice, I also observed that my personality was shifting, in ‘positive’ ways [for example, I became less reactive (though, paradoxically, more sensitive), more patient, less rigid (softer and more open intellectually, emotionally, and physically)]. It was very strange to witness these shifts happening to me when I invested no conscious effort to change.
Somewhere along the way, I had a remote energy healing performed on me. It was powerful. I closed my eyes and saw a bright white light, then felt a strong tingling emanate from my lower torso. Psychological healing followed on issues I had been wrestling with for much of my life.
How was all of this possible?
Shamanism
The magic continued…
I was introduced to shamanism in 2021 and began working with a shamanic practitioner. In one of our first sessions, this practitioner told me that I was a seer—(what in some indigenous cultures is known as) a shaman. I was like, “what now?”
She also introduced me to worlds of tarot, reiki, and healing crystals/stones.
My curiosity was piqued. I started delving into shamanic literature and devoured several books quickly.
I discovered Paul Francis’ series on therapeutic shamanism and found it to be particularly palatable. Among other elements, Francis combined the fields of psychotherapy, ecopsychology, and shamanism into a coherent whole.
Francis’ books provided a bridge between (my) worlds.
I took an introductory course to therapeutic shamanism through Three Ravens College and also began to regularly embark on shamanic journeys.
On my lower-world expeditions, I discovered a ‘real’ unspoiled natural landscape—a place that felt very safe, was consistent across time, and could be endlessly explored in all its diversity. I experienced unconditional love and acceptance in the lower-world. It was deeply healing. I felt myself softening, becoming even more permeable.
What, or who, was I becoming?
Practice shift(s)
Subsequent to my discovery of, and continued forays into, energy work and shamanism, my counselling, coaching, and psychotherapy work began to slowly move in more intuitive, energetic, and spiritual directions.
I started speaking publicly about my new burgeoning esoteric interests in 2022 and sensed that I would eventually transition away from psychotherapy/counselling and into more intuitive/energetic/spiritual work. [I was also scared to death of taking the plunge (into full authenticity)].
In early 2025, due to a confluence of factors (I will share more about these at a later date), I decided to leave the formal practice of psychotherapy so that I could follow where my guides had been leading me for several years (in unison, they’re like, “it’s about time, Eric!”): to practice my own form of alchemical healing as a coach, healer, and guide.
It is a honour to work with clients worldwide. Witnessing my clients grow and transform into who they are capable of being is deeply inspiring.
More about Eric (background: academic and otherwise)
From 2017-2025, I was as Registered Psychotherapist in Ontario. I was a member of the Ontario Association of Mental Health Professionals (OAMHP) and the Climate Psychology Alliance North America (CPA-NA) during this time.
Other work experience includes being an adjunct professor of geography and environmental studies, a teaching assistant, a research assistant, an intern psychotherapist, and an environmental planner/scientist (my first ‘real’ job which I worked for about 4 years).
My academic background is transdisciplinary. I have:
- a PhD in Applied Health Sciences: Social & Cultural Health Studies (the title of my dissertation is: Exploring the Ecological Self: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis with Gifted Adults) from Brock University,
- a MA in Human Geography (my thesis work explored the relationship between mental health and nature affiliation in post-secondary students) from McMaster University, and,
- a MA in Theology (with a specialization in Spiritual Care & Psychotherapy) from Wilfrid Laurier University,
- a liberal arts BSc with a major in Biology and minor in Chemistry from Redeemer University College in Ancaster, ON.
As mentioned above, I have been actively developing my intuitive/energetic/spiritual abilities since 2019. Through voracious self-study, apprenticeship with a master energy worker, and training in therapeutic shamanism (through Three Ravens College), I am continuously integrating new psychological insights and spiritual approaches into my self and work.
On a more personal note, I currently live in multifaceted Hamilton, ON, Canada. You can often find me out-of-doors—experiencing and exploring the nearby natural places I’m privileged to call home.