my story

The power of your presence can heal the deepest of wounds

Healing and learning from my own life’s challenges and traumas has cultivated and enhanced my gift for deep compassion and sacred space holding. Much of my life has been spent not being present in the moment. Having lost my mother when I was a ten year old child while those around me reeled from shock, I found myself plunged into a world of loss & confusion with no one able to guide me. That significant loss combined with previously unknown experiences with sexual trauma and unmet developmental needs, led me to sink inward entering into a decades-long-lasting state of emotional freeze. My survival mode kicked in powerfully and I fell fully into living a life sourced from what felt like an innate need to survive on my own. For me, that looked like creating & holding beliefs that stated I needed to hide my true self and disconnect from my body, my emotions, and even my soul in order to survive. I had to 'be ok' and show that I was ok to the world. 'Bad' feelings and emotions were suppressed and shamed, so rather than being present with my true whole self, I instead lived from my fearful, controlling mind which understood that I needed to look externally for clues and expectations of what my life should be.

This way of operating combined with not only the unprocessed loss of my mother and other trauma, but the continued challenges of living as a disconnected human being led me to periods of depression and to struggle with, and unconsciously fear, forming connections with others. Fears around abandonment and loss ruled my nervous system, and if I did not feel safe to connect with myself how could I be expected to feel safe with others? I couldn't. But I didn't know that, and at that time those around me didn't know that so this is how I developed into adulthood. Unaware that there was anything amiss, unaware of what I had actually experienced and its impacts in my young life, unaware that I did not know what healthy & loving connection truly was. And for many years that emotional distance I took from others was what I needed to experience in order to begin feeling safe, to begin a connection with myself, and ultimately to return to the truth that we as human beings are relational by nature and have an innate need for connection with ourselves, others, and the Universe.

My healing began in earnest in my late twenties when I began grieving the loss of my mom, and my journey over time has encompassed working with therapists and healers, using medication, attending healing workshops and retreats, connecting with Mother Nature, plant medicine journeys, and exploring breath and body work. We are blessed at this time to have many available paths to explore our healing journeys. I offer a loving and safe container that allows the opportunity for sacred connection to one’s self to be brought forth. A space of compassion and non-judgment where you are free to share yourself without censorship. I feel my purpose is to provide the love, safety, and attunement that so many of us did not receive as children in order to heal those pieces in need of attention and to move forward with a desire to live fully and authentically, and with your own personal values acting as your fuel. Healing takes time and a tender focus as we are such complex and unique beings. I want to help you come back to yourself, to return to yourself fully embodied and empowered to live as your heart and soul desires.

jenn Haffner - RTCc #3181

I am a Registered Therapeutic Counsellor candidate (RTCc) with the Association of Cooperative Counselling Therapists of Canada (ACCT). I hold a diploma in Professional Counselling and a certificate in Life Skills Coaching.