Pat Parisi: Career Statement

1. SIGNATURE STRENGTHS

I am a seasoned psychotherapist, educator, group facilitator and visionary. For more than 15 years, I have been working with people in their desire to live full-filled and alive smack dab in the middle of their lives. I hold the vision of empowering people in their capacity to be fully awake and fully alive right now.

2. POSSIBILITIES I’M CURIOUS ABOUT…

I am proud to be part of CareerCycles, contributing to people’s unquenchable drive towards being whole more than perfect.
Other things I’m curious about:
• building community towards a sustainable environment, economy – locally and globally
• Finding and implementing ways to personally live more sustainably
• Spiritual awakening
• Working with dying and death
• Nature spirituality

3. HERE ARE MY STRENGTHS & KNOWLEDGE I WANT TO USE AND DEVELOP… (STRENGTHS)

I use my strengths of teaching, counseling, listening, cheerleading, to help people feel inspired by their own lives. It’s all right there, just waiting to be discovered, coalesced, re-combined in ways that make perfect sense. Our own lives provide the path and it is reliably discernable. When it’s clearly perceived, our lives bring meaning, deeper trust and joy to the path. No longer something to be endured, our lives become the inspiration and means to live it, even to be fascinated by it in its mystery. Just like a newborn baby, our lives are chiefly a vast territory that hasn’t yet happened, holding the promise of something fresh, surprising, entirely new, entirely inspiring. Ultimately, our lives are entirely malleable and workable.

4. HERE’S WHAT I WANT… (DESIRES)

My strong desire is to live my life in beauty that is authentic, happy, one filled with integrity and harmony. This ground informs my work with people, where I take great pleasure from the gains, leaps and bounds that people make in their lives. I am truly a fortunate woman because I am the Witness of the great beauty that is people’s lives. I, too, grow by leaps and bounds, changing lanes and vistas with the soul of an adventurer. I feel a sacred impatience when I see the potential, the great beauty that is just waiting to be revealed at the right moment, with the very next breath. This beautiful changing panorama is the variety that I crave and the ground from which I offer myself in service.

5. HERE’S THE KIND OF PERSON I AM… (PERSONAL QUALITIES):

As part Idealist, part Artisan (in the language of Kiersey’s Temperament), I am the artistic director of my life. I take full responsibility for myself because of the sheer simplicity, pleasure and relief that it grants me. Self-responsibility offers me the broadest span of creativity, which is one of my primary values. Rules and regulations chafe me and I prefer the wider spaces of creative self-expressive freedom. The Idealist side of me offers me the gifts and the capacity for honesty, wisdom, compassion, ethics, reliability and self-discipline.

6.HERE’S WHAT I BRING WITH ME (ASSETS):

Assets A: EDUCATION, CREDENTIALS, MEMBERSHIPS.

• M.Ed. (Adult Education)
• B.A. (Sociology)
• AOCA (Associate of Ontario College of Art)
• Member, Ontario Association of Consultants, Counsellors, Psychometrists and Psychotherapists

Assets B: WORK, VOLUNTEER, CO-CURRICULAR EXPERIENCE
My passion is for process facilitation where people discover the truth of their lives. This includes the CareerCycles method of practice, the Big Mind process and emotional healing retreats. To this I add deep listening, presence, encouragement, clarity, straight-up feedback and warmth.

• Work for a charitable organization as the Program Coordinator for support group program for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse

Assets C: DEMONSTRATED INTERESTS

• Reiki Master
• Work experience in Human Resources, career counseling at a major educational institution, psychotherapy and psychospiritual modalities (Reiki, massage, emotional release, Core Energetics, Big Mind)
• Facilitating people in emotional healing, trauma and transformative learning

Assets D: ADDITIONAL SKILLS, LEARNED BEHAVIORS

• motorcycle riding course in 2012
• Further development as a solopreneur and social artist

7. HOW OTHER PEOPLE INFLUENCE ME:

Because I see life as the spiritual journey, it’s not surprising that I am influenced by a few heavy hitting luminaries: Genpo Roshi, Brian Swimme and Joanna Macy. Although different in many ways, they have all taught me of the sacredness of life, the imperative to (in the words of Mary Oliver) live this one wild life that is none other than my own, to be dissatisfied with appearances and to call this planet home. To them I offer a deep bow and deep gratitude.

Pat’s positive outlook and gentle approach were a big inspiration and support through a tough time in my career and life. With her help, I realized that my options are not nearly as limited as I thought and that my career and life goals are achievable. Pat encouraged me to be more mindful, be gentle with myself, and to start to build my life around the things that matter most to me. Thanks! ~ RB