This week, we had the opportunity to speak with Anne-Marie Charest – Shamanic, Mindfulness, and Wellness Facilitator. We discussed what sort of therapies she offers, how they work, and what can a person expect from them.
When did you first know that conducting spiritual therapies was your calling and how did it come about?
From my early childhood, I always knew that I came from a powerful lineage of women healers. My grandmother attended McGill University in Canada and became a dietician, while my mother and aunts of my loving French Canadian family opened their hearts to the sick and dying as nurses.
They all paved the way in helping me recognize the amazing gift of being a woman; that of compassion, caring and loving those in need. I was also influenced by witnessing my mother work along Mother Teressa’s side and her capacity determination in opening an Orphanage in Yangon, Myanmar in her 60s. At 80 today, she still runs that Orphanage and tends to the needs of 60 young souls with determination and love.
Although I completed my Undergraduate Degree in Therapeutic Recreation and Gerontology, it was not until much later in life when I met a Sangoma, (South African Shaman) in Africa who recognized and informed me that I too was at Sangoma. Being young, in my late 30’s, I had no idea what a Sangoma / Shaman was. Within this seed planted, I was sent along my path with bones in hand and innocence in my heart to walk into my shamanic journey.
The doors continued to open over the years, which led me to be trained by hundreds of shamans from around the including Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, a Kalaallit Eskimo shaman from Greenland who also saw this gift in me. After several years of learning, growing, and practicing energy work from ancient traditions, my elders suggested that I return to school to understand mysticism through science.
This led me to return to school and obtain a Master’s in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Somatic Psychology and a doctorate degree in Transpersonal Psychology. Now understanding both science and ancient healing traditions, I was now better equipped to soar high like an eagle with both wings of understanding propelling me. This differentiates me greatly from many traditional therapists.
What kind of therapies do you offer?
Over the years, I have been trained in various ancient traditional healing and empowerment practices such as vision quests, sweat lodges, ceremonies, nature bathing, shamanic walks, energy work, drumming, soul retrievals, family Constellation work, embodiment practices, mindfulness practices, art therapy, EMDR, Cognitive Behavioral Therapies, attachment style therapies, REIKI, Touch Therapy, and so much more. I pride myself in choosing to continually grow for the benefit of those who choose to work with me.
What is the Therapy For Women and Couples?
Women:
My practice with women has led me to witness that very often they need to feel supported, enough and know that they are powerful beyond measure. For this reason, much of the work I do with women revolves around helping them untether themself from limiting beliefs imprinted from the past, moving them beyond transgenerational trauma, societal limiting beliefs, relationships, or work dynamics that no longer serve them to a more powerful state of existence. Through our work together, women are taught radical self-love, to believe in themselves, to stand tall as they are meant to be, and to shine bright. In essence, they are called to honor the divine that lives within them.
Couples:
The couple work that seems to emerge in my practice often stems from unresolved trauma and unconscious imprints that often lead couples to project old unconscious wounds and beliefs onto each other.
Through developmental trauma awareness, attachment style untangling, inner child work, empowerment, non-violent communication, and ownership of the deeper truth of who they are, couples begin to emerge from a place of ownership, self-love, responsibility, compassion, and deep respect. In such a place, each individual begins to contribute to the collective love through the experience of their own love within.
What can a person expect from your therapy?
Each process is highly individualized. Clients are met with compassion, open-hearted acceptance, and deep understanding that offers the spaciousness for the soul to move organically.
Compassion is woven with accountability and the vision for change that leads to most of my clients transforming into their new selves. Clients that typically work with me are ready to go deep, unroot the causes that hold them back, and are willing to move beyond their old selves into a new essence.
What is the most important detail in maintaining a relationship of mutual trust with customers?
The most important details in maintaining a relationship of mutual trust with customers are authenticity, vulnerability, compassion, and radical love. My philosophy and approach to working with clients are steeped in remembering that we are all equal.
My uncle from Greenland would remind me that the beauty of the circle is that there is no beginning and no end in which we all belong and that the strength of the circle is that we can see each other’s beauty. It is with that teaching in mind that I meet each client.
What do you love most about your profession?
What I love the most about my profession is that I get to witness the divine in me. By that I mean, I get to witness my own capacity to love and be loved as the world of my clients is transformed by love. It relishes me to see and witness my clients wake up to their own beauty within and begin to truly know that love lives within, and that they can choose love daily, even in their darkest hours. It is for this reason I named my business heartfullyU. I invite all my clients to come home to themselves by returning to their hearts, to peace, and to love.
