“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we're supposed to be and embracing who we are.” Brené Brown
My Journey to Myself
The person on the image whose back you see, gazing out toward the other shore across the frozen lake, that’s me. Me, at one of many points in my life when I felt stuck, or lost, or afraid, or disconnected from myself. Me, when my life’s purpose seemed beyond my reach, out there in a far away land I could barely see and could not reach.
Sounds familiar? Yes, we’ve all been there. This “there” is, in fact, what brings me here.
Along my own journey, I’ve come to appreciate the beauty in the frozen, desolate internal landscapes as much as the joy in the warm, vibrant ones. I’ve come to know and trust that even during the “winters of the soul,” there is light on the horizon. I’ve learned to choose to go towards the light.
I am an educator with a PhD from Indiana University and 30 years of college teaching and leadership experience. While retired from higher education, I continue to be a life-long learner, mentor, coach, and facilitator, inspired to support individuals, groups, and organizations who long to build their capacity to communicate effectively and connect with confidence, compassion, and authenticity.
My practice as a communication coach, trainer, facilitator, and conflict mediator is grounded on the principles of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a communication framework that fosters self-awareness, mutual understanding, and respectful expression and developed by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, founder of the Center for Nonviolent Communication.
I have completed over 700 hours of formal training with NVC-Certified trainers in the US and internationally, including an NVC Intenstive International Training (IIT) in Brazil, and two year-long intensive coaching and mediation trainings with the Amsterdam-based organization, Connecting2Life, and John Kinyon’s Mediate Your Life Coaching and Mediation Programs. I’m an Affiliate of the NVC Academy and a Supporting Member of the Center for Nonviolent Communication. In 2023, I completed the End-of-Life Doula Professional Certificate Program at the University of Vermont’s Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine. In addition to my personal practice, I am a consultant for various NVC organizations, including the NVC Rising Global Program and Mediate Your Life.
In addition to my formal training, my practice is informed by a wide-range of nterests in related fields, including mindfulness meditation, neuroscience, individual and generational trauma, and Internal Family Systems (IFS).
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I was first introduced to Nonviolent Communication in 2009 while a professor at a small college in New York State. What I learned then had an enriching impact on my teaching and leadership roles. What I have continued to learn since informs my relationship to myself and to others in ways that are profoundly nourishing and hopeful. As I cultivate a mindful and compassionate connection to myself, to others, and to life as it is, and as I support others in doing the same, we collectively increase our capacity and courage to face and overcome those all-too-familiar moments of fear, doubt, and uncertainty.
This is my invitation to you, to step onto the path toward how you want to feel and be in the world.
I’ll meet you there, and we’ll move forward together.
Paula Willoquet
Top photo courtesy of Donna C. Roberts