Contact Pat to Find how she can help you lead more consciously and creatively in troubled times! 0487105785
Healing Grief and Loss
Pat can also support with the following :-
- Grief and Depression following death, divorce, depletion, disappointment, dramas and disasters
- Grief and Depression following a downturn, a drought, dementia,
- Moving through loss of family member
- Honouring the loss of a child
- Moving through redundancies
- Recovering from bankruptcy
- Trauma following natural disasters
- Release of patterns that don’t serve
- Release of emotional pain
Pat knows full well that everybody grieves differently , and for those facing adversity from any source the passage is not linear.
She says Grief is perceiving there is nowhere to place our love and sadness is love announced.
Pat Armitstead is no stranger to grief and loss. She lost her home and business twice; is a cancer survivor; endured a violent relationship; avoided bankruptcy by repaying $80,000 in 2 years; had 10 car accidents in 18 months ( none her fault so she says) ; and plummeted when her partner of 20 years left with another woman.
She says “My lifes work has been a series of devotional appointments with my higher self and like Stephen Jenkinson I have come to see grief is a skill of deep living, which enables us recognise the worlds suffering. It is also the midwife for being able to fall in love with being alive again.”
Pat’s grieving workshops are about restoring a sense of wellbeing and supporting people to be fully self expressed, through finding meaning in life events. She has been described as a Spiritual Midwife, delivering people out of the darkness.
Karen Lee said following some mBraining coaching ;-
“Pat your wisdom, your patience, your heart and sense of perspective that I didn’t have at the time is truly beautiful ! During the mbraining session Pat could see through me, see the pain and know where and what needed to be bought back in balance. I felt lighter immediately after the session, I have allowed myself to be gentle with myself….to allow the tears of sadness for all that has passed to gush forth, is a beautiful thing, to allow that release is so important. Thank you for intergrating me once again. You have helped me in ways beyond what I thought I needed.
Much love and gratitude. Karen “
Grief and loss can be experienced as a result of illness, bereavement, divorce, redundancy or restructuring in the workplace. There are also a myriad of little deaths such as changing house, shifting jobs, moving away from friends, family feuds, flashes of envy, and those sharp pangs of loneliness.
My lifes work has been a series of devotional appointments with my higher self. Like Stephen Jenkinson I believe grief is a skill of deep living. It enables us to recognise the worlds suffering. It is also the midwife for being able to fall in love with being alive again.
Pat says ” If your spirit is wounded then my work can support you. I have learned how to find meaning and joy where it appears there is none. I have in my own life built resilience and bounced back from adversity time and time again.
These grieving programs began when Pat worked for 12 months with 3 Jungian psychotherapists exploring myths, casting body parts and making meaning of life events. They explored legends, fairytales and symbolism and Pat now pools all this intellectual and creative capital into programs that support people to find their joy – when it often appears there is none.
The casting work is inspired by the work of Christiane Corbat, whose art can be seen on :- http://www.christianecorbat.com . Pats own work is displayed on the page and in the clips.
Phone Pat on 0487105785 to book a complimentary discussion call
Dr Russ Harris talks about the reality slap—those times when life brings a painful blow. And the slap is just the beginning as following the slap is the gap. This is the gap between the reality we want and the reality we have, and the bigger the gap the more pain we experience.
In the midst of pain, though, we often find great passion, creativity and the development of self compassion. This program explores grieving in context with its role and relationship to health and wellbeing and supports people to find meaning and fulfill their potential as a result of loss.
We grieve for that which we have loved and the processes utilized by Pat honor that love.
A dressmaker, milliner, make up artist, scriptwriter, Film producer, director, mixed media artist and journalist/videographer, Pat combines those talents to create canvases and installations that depict the evolution of self. She has produced 10 documentaries and freelanced for Australian national news, 20:20 and 60 minutes.
Pat uses the following modalities NLP
Master NLP
mBIT
The Virtues practices
Art Therapy
Storytelling
Pat says “Across the globe, many people lack joy, harmony, trust and are prone to doubt. They have become despondent and depressed, fail to be their word, sit in overwhelm, and are resigned and intolerant.
Others show cynicism and act confused , and many lack confidence all of which results in emotional flatlining, lack of engagement , poor productivity and more recently, unresolved grief, poor mental health and suicides.”
For almost 40 years now Pat has been coaching and facilitating programs that enable people to experience wellbeing in their lives. Anxiety, depression, grief and loss take their toll and for some the pressures have been too great.
Pat sees crisis as a catalyst for personal growth and ongoing transformation, enabling high levels of intimate communication and authentic expression.
What makes this program and Pats coaching so unique?
Pat has a unique ability to connect with humanity, creating the space for profound intimacy and trust. In her workshop the entire program is choreographed to music ( compiled by Angela Dickson) , which creates the backdrop for an immersion into a multi sensory experience. In her coaching she creates that same place of high trust and she says when we open up to grief we re the richer and fuller for it. She will take you to a place where your grief can illuminate you . My most profound experience has been embodying the wounded part of you in a cast piece outside of yourself – a personalised sculpture that you can feel love and compassion for!
The casting work is not obligatory and clients can choose one on one coaching on its own.
Pat says “In the sharing of vulnerable moments we generate a degree of trust that is the cement of all relationship building. Many people experience deep loss and as with all losses we don’t get over them, rather we move through them. Journaling and storytelling, whether our own or others demonstrates the passage through tragedy and triumph and we learn who we really are and what our lives are about. It supports us to make meaning, and when then added to the artistic process provides another level of closure and healing.
We become part of a multi generational quilt of community and find strengths we have forgotten. When we share these stories with other people we create a high degree of intimacy that satisfies our deepest yearning for personal contact… and that’s for the listener as well as the storyteller!
Testimonials
” A bonding of self, abuse, pain, sorrow and spirit. Pat gave the gift of reconnection”
“Pats experience, training and her personal overcoming in her life, qualify her to hold your heart gently and help you through this time. She is a master at helping you reclaim the beautiful experience of life , walking with you through your pain , gently and with care”
” I was numb, surviving on adrenaline, so sad, devoid of anger and normal grief responses. I emerged wrapped in my spiritual cloak and holding everybody in wings of compassion”
“Pat has a very personal way of delivering, and being with her for the weekend was funny, deep, intriguing, stimulating – full of emotions. “
” The level of intimacy we reached in such a short time was incredible. “
“Three months ago I had turned and faced the growing suspicion that my husband was capable of being the abuser that my sons were hinting at. The shock, sorrow, guilt, disbelief and horror that consumed me as I staggered through the journey left me exposed and totally raw. I struggled with me. I was numb, surviving on adrenalin, so sad, devoid of anger and ‘normal’ grief responses. I emerged, wrapped in my spiritual cloak and holding everybody and everything in wings of compassion. I stepped into a journey of forgiveness and understanding for the abuser, pride for my sons courage and a seeker of knowledge. Everyone was concerned that I was just not coping. The final result is not only a piece of art that expresses self, griefs journey but the revelation of my inner being and reconnection with my purpose in this time. “
” One 38 year old mother lost her partner to cancer 11 years ago. She had a teenage son with behavioural disorder. She was agoraphobic, overweight, medicated for depression, took sleeping pills to avoid the mind chatter, unemployed for 11 years and lived in physical clutter. In this experience she found her creative self and was transformed !! Her cast hands released all her stored creativity. Reinvigorated she went on to find work, win a weight loss program , lost 30kg, sold her house which her son had trashed with a sledge hammer, bought a new house and a new car. This transformation has been sustained for over 5 years, her son is in goal, but she is no longer triggered by her son’s manipulation, she has now retrained, and plans to work in ESOL in China and France “
one woman’s husband left for work when her boys were tiny- 2 and 3 and never came home. He died in car accident and to use her words: “I never grieved…we had the funeral and I just got on with it “. 20 years on she wished to reconnect with her herself and be more available in her professional role. The casting for her revealed her inner child and she used the photo images of her self as a tool to reconnect with her creative self.