Episode 124
Empathetic Healing & Natural Grounding with Amity Cooper

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Description

In this episode, Chris Burns brings Amity Cooper of Wayfinding Counseling, Human Herd Network, and Clinical Career Collective to the show! From hearing Amity’s personal and professional experience getting her to where she is today to the empathic powers and benefits of working with and alongside horses, this episode holds amazing information on rarely focused topics. For more information on Amity, check out amitycooper.com. For more information on Wayfinding Counseling, check out wayfindingpractice.com. For more information on Clinical Career Collective, check out clinicalcareercollective.com.

Talking Points

1. 
   
2. Introduction to Amity Cooper (0:30)
   
3. Getting to know Amity (1:19)
   
4. Managing career and personal life (4:10)
   
5. Personal responsibility & personal accountability (5:45)
   
6. Looking within yourself (7:05)
   
7. Getting people to see their own healing (12:50)
   
8. Working with horses (16:25)
   
9. What is Amity’s WHY (28:40)
   
10. Where to find Amity Cooper (30:00)
    
11. Final Thoughts (30:35)
    

Quotes

“We’re naturally predators, right? But when we are challenged with a traumatic experience, and we don’t have the skills or the ability or know-how to reset ourselves, we live, and we walk among others traumatized”.

-Amity Cooper, Wayfinding Counseling

Episode Transcripts

Episode -124- Transcripts

[Music] hey everybody and welcome to another exciting episode of Finding Peaks Yours Truly president founder and CEO Chris Burns joined today by an amazing guest and even better human AMD Cooper with way find way way finding counseling human herd Network clinical career Collective that is a mouthful isn’t it wow I love it thank you so much for joining us today thank you for having me a pleasure to be here yeah so good to have you I had a chance to connect with AMD probably about six weeks ago on a call and just got to learn a little bit about what you do and why you do it and something I want to touch on early and often is you’ve done something really unique and I think kind of atypical in our field is you’ve developed three different businesses with respect to meeting individuals where they’re at I think it’s really really unique you don’t put boxes over people’s heads and you kind of get to come into you know your website reads basically if you’re looking for a solution there’s one and you may have it inside of you yes really cool why did you develop those three and um maybe tell the viewers a little bit about each one of them yeah so I gosh I came into this field I think I’ve already I’ve always been a therapist probably born that way um but I really came in into the mental health space about six seven years ago after 20 plus years as a serial entrepreneur and um I sort of dipped my toes into this kind of one-on-one work with people really as a a trained mediator and negotiator so I have a a master’s degree in conflict resolution and um it was a good foreground and foundation for really figuring out how to sit side by side or need with somebody else figuring out what their issues are and then um back in 2015 my last business closed and I was just faced with a devastating moment of Crisis I didn’t know who I was without my business and I think there’s probably a lot of listeners out there who have had that moment of existential question and it with some deep dive into myself I realized that I really wanted to be more internally driven I wanted to focus my life Orient my life around helping other people find their best selves and that meant going back to school for a second degree in mental health counseling and so I combined all those years of experience by working with others and on businesses and in projects to do that very thing about working with people um on a very intimate sort of level to really uncover and un Earth or excavate what their dreams are I think that is so unique and intention intentional and connecting with respect to kind of the entrepreneurial dream right Gore mate just wrote a book his phenomenal book called The Myth the normal I haven’t read it yet yeah it’s a 19h hour audio book um but it’s it’s wonderful and what it talks about is you know essentially you turn on the TV you look out in our community and the message is go to the hilltop to get the pot of gold yeah and you’ll be satiated life will take on new meaning you know everything you turn on TV it’s bigger faster stronger and more you look outside it’s bigger faster stronger and more and you’re bringing people back into this functional connectedness with themselves and you mentioned something really unique too with entrepreneurs and people in business and even helpers in general is we become really really overcoupled with that career it goes up we go up it goes down we go down how do you help people manage that how do you resource them well I think the it’s awareness right the first thing is is about okay where I am where am I in this where do I sit in this place and it’s about discovering and returning to our first principles about who we are what makes us us what our values are how we’re in alignment or disalignment with our lives and then we can sort of tease apart where we want to go with that we can we can set a course we can set we we have a a an orientation a compass to navigate our next choices by so I think it starts with who we are what’s fundamentally important to us and then discovering what the next steps are that is so rad and what I love about that too you see that R yeah no like super radal awesome yeah not radical maybe radical as well but I I think about it not just for helpers entrepreneurs professionals but why not a life book for people who are new in their recovery from mental health absolutely like oh my gosh like when you said that I got chilled because I can remember sitting there my life book was created for me I was checking out a treatment in 2007 and they said this is who and what you are and you will do these things or you’ll lose it all right and so it was a very canned and boxed treatment plan safe safe it’s so safe I mean don’t you think the default button is sort of mediocrity these days I mean we’re sort of we we want to personal responsibility personal accountability is a really hard thing to stand in today and it’s much easier to refer to and refer and Outsource our life to other people it’s easier to take that path for most of us most of us are not going to spend time self doing self-examination and exploration that’s just you know we don’t yeah yeah so if you are of a different elk if you have a different view a different take on your life and what you want it to be the only way is in and through to get to that pot of gold if you will and and that takes deep that takes deep work and it takes time and it’s not a canned response to your life right so I love what you said there because I’ve been quoted as saying the only way out is through that’s even more intentional to say the only way out is in and through let’s not forget that in part yeah which is really really important to red discover and realign who and what I am yeah you bring up a really good point too because when I got into recovery at 22 years old nearly 16 years ago who I thought I was at that time was much more noise coming from outside in yeah than inside out and so it it’s only been in the last couple of years I’ve been doing this recovery thing a long time the last couple of years I’m finally starting to see the efficacy of that that perfect that resource inside of us that opportunity to go within to put our feet in the earth to get in the cold bath to get the sunlight on the face to move the feet just one step after another as slow or as fast as I need and it took me a long time to get there why has this message feel so difficult to get out to the average human that’s a really great question and it wasn’t on the list I yeah that’s cool um h well I think we can I mean what our lives are very phenetic you know there is this constant looking to the outside to give us validation and confirmation that who we are and what we are striving to be is okay okay so there’s that we sort of have usurped our own innate power to the outside world who really has no care or concern for us so that’s one thing yeah um so true and these are skills maybe they’re life skills that aren’t necessar that we have to learn from our elders we have to learn from people that have already gone before us and so we don’t have and maybe this might go a little off course here but you know in a in an indigenous culture you know there are there are initiations there are initiatives that are set by the elders the teachers the wise people the wise ones who come back and and it’s their task it’s their job to teach the ones coming up and we don’t have that base and I think so there’s there’s that loss here and I think there’s some mourning and there’s some grief around that loss and I think that’s why so many people struggle with addictions I think that there’s so we’re trying to find those places those vehicles to find our inner selves and they’re misplaced you know so does that answer that makes so much sense yeah yeah and it you you get to tell me why and then I get to back it up with a story so I was a couple weeks not a couple weeks ago during the winter Symposium so in February were you down here for the or some so one of the biggest conferences at least in Southern Colorado um for treatment providers and helpers and the like and I was telling you about before the show my shoe stuff right so I’m at the conference and I have to wear these uncomfortable shoes and I’m like oh I just cannot wait to get out of these shoes and so I get back to the office and I put my Earth Runners on and I got my toe socks on and feels so good yeah and I come to do a tour with somebody from the Symposium and it’s a Wednesday it’s the last day of the conference yeah and she comes in it’s a doctor um a pretty well revered doctor here in Colorado and I said said Dr so and so so great to see you and I’m so grateful to have my earthrunner sandals back on it’s like you know after a conference and having to dress up and wear these shoes and I said you know and I just feel so much better having these on and she looked at me with some of the most contagious eye contact and she said you should have just wor them all conference that’s who you are and I was like oh my gosh you see you saved my life you saved my life so now I refuse I told you today I was like today is the first day I put shoes on but it goes back to your point it’s like I’m waiting for this external thing to tell me that I’m okay doing or being who and what I am today right yeah so I love that there’s a lot of those barriers and oftentimes we feed ourselves unfortunately and I’m guilty of this and I think it’s human nature is I feed myself from the outside in oh and that creates a lot of internal disconnectedness oh gosh an incongruence uh a just a just a discomfort like we just don’t feel right in ourselves you know and I think most people can identify with that like they just don’t they don’t feel good like their skin doesn’t feel right and uh you know to the touch or there’s things like just this innate itchiness yeah you know yeah and it is something it’s so interesting you say that this innate itchiness may as well have been synonymous with my cohort that walked through and I’m not throwing the 12-step way of life saved our life from a um a connectedness perspective and a social connected persp of my that we walked with abent of resourcing ourselves internally it’s kind of this just this uneasy feeling and not feeling any sort of embodiment and I had thought and I think there’s a number of people that are really going to be satiated by this episode because I think there’s a number of people specifically young people in our world that are finding resources for their mental health that are being told a story um that speaks to a life sentence of you name it yeah and the way that you work with individuals clients families and the community speaks to something so much different you speak to Healing um how do you get people to see their own healing when they’re being told this external message of it’s not
possible well I truly believe that we have all the answers within us right so my job is I see myself more as a as an ally and uh a witness to their process it’s it’s a it’s it’s a revealing like so I I use a lot of tactical empathy deep listening you know these these skills that I’ve sort of honed in my clinical preparation and orientation I mean it’s all about relating and seeing the person there and I just open that up for them to explore in a safe container and space for that and that could be done but that could be done obviously oneon-one KNE to knee but where my sweet spot really lies is actually working outside with them in concert and in partnership with horses and my backyard all my trees and Forest so at least like I present an opport opportunity for them to discover who they are in in a sense of like an unguarded way because that’s what nature does for us it provides this this incredible access point whereas we can be really guarded and sort of uh shed up we could put a lot of we wear a lot of armor every day if I hope I’m not going down rabit here but like it’s it’s just like we’re so guarded against actually feeling something or showing ourselves and that’s what makes my work so powerful is that none of that is needed it’s just just giving an opportunity and an opening to explore and and let all of that armor be shedded and released gosh I can actually when you talked about your backyard the 40 acres yeah that you have in the horse and I my mind went right to that spot with like the Sun out and the trees and I thought to myself why would we not combine therapy with nature you know it’s the best form of therapy out there how cool some of our best therapists over the last 10 years in peaks in my opinion are the ones that I can look out my office window and see them walking down a path outside yeah or walking around the trail just getting some fresh air and sunshine walk and talk walk and talk yeah there’s some that really happens there absolutely oh that’s so cool and that kind of dubils into my next point something that I truly believe in is equin assisted therapy since I’ve lived in Colorado Springs I’ve become an even bigger believer in it because of all the veterans who have found healing and strength and equinity within that modality however as we talked about before the show I think there’s some people that try to actuate that modality that do it at complete and utter disservice unfortunately with the way that they show up or the way they don’t show up so I wanted you to light a passion under the viewers today and just talk about why you believe so wholeheartedly in this research in this modality and in this opportunity for people to heal with horses oh my goodness I love that sort of introduction and oh a lot of pressure a lot of pressure um well okay so I can speak from personal experience I I didn’t grow up around horses I came to this work late in life um it’s only in the last 8 10 years that horses have been an integral part of my daily life practice uh just engagement and it’s changed it’s changed my orientation on my view my world view um my practice and um the bottom line is that horses are magic and they are my spirit animal um and I had an opportunity was something that was presented in in my graduate training and there was this flyer that showed up on the on the pin board and it said come spend a day with horses and that experience changed my whole trajectory of how I was going to be a therapist in the world and I walked out into the arena and I was at uh surrounding by three horses at Liberty so that’s without any halter or any any any sort of line lead anything and it was such a powerful profound moment for me that I knew that when I walked out of that space that this was what I was going to do for the rest of my life and so that is sort of like an anecdotal experience that thousands of people have recorded it’s a qualitative example some value of how wonderful and profound being up close and personal with a thousand PB animal can be okay then there’s all this 30y year historical research and data to back that fact that being and surrounded and companioned with or joined up with an animal in the healing domain um healing and transformation occurs faster it’s longlasting it changes perspectives it changes life trajectories and recovery and is possible like you don’t have to stay in this one place with this one label if you will of like I’m always in recovery or I’m always this I’m always recovering from trauma or I’ve lived my trauma like the the it is so powerful I don’t it’s hard to put into words here but let’s see so horses have this unique ability they are they are prey animals and they survive by being in a heard they have an incredible sensient and intuitive way way of reading their environment and when humans we’re naturally Predators right but when we are challenged with a traumatic experience and we don’t have the skills or the ability or to know how to to reset ourselves we live and we walk amongst others traumatized and and I know that the work that you do you can speak to that you see this every day the people are just sort of heavy heavy yeah well all horses do is live in the present moment they they’re not thinking about yesterday they’re not thinking about tomorrow it’s about right here and now and they want to know that if you’re going to come up and be next to them are you going to be with them or are you going to be distracted and it challenges you and it brings you so quickly into the present moment it’s like instantaneous and things shift for the individual and it the horse’s presence acts as a mirror it reflects back your attitude your stance your your breath um it’s it’s all of these Nuance somatic uh results that you see and you watch an individual as as a witness to that and the work that I do I actually am not doing anything in in that in in that space like I’m noticing I’m bringing attention or awareness to what is arising in that moment and I may point that out but it’s all about processing and giving voice to that experience that that human being is that individual is having I love that that’s a lot no and it makes it makes total sense to me is last time I did equin therapy I was 22 years old I was at Cottonwood day Tucson and I was scared to death why I was scared to death of everything yeah not just the horse my existence being present holding space so I remember being like oh this isn’t for me you know and actually get chill saying that now when you get kind of eloquently describe what holding space in equin therapy can do for an individual that’s really profound and simple tool so simple to use so simple and again like I think it goes back to the this I think there’s a golden thread here that’s being connected here in our conversation because we originally started talking about this Earth thing right and there is um being able to lock in or connect in and ground ourselves it allows us to be we’re stepping into the arena of life here and so there’s a metaphor for that space that I create uh during each session it’s like you walk through the gate You observe first and then you walk in and you say are you ready you know and then you sort of enter the arena you enter the the horse world and it’s the subliminal sort of like space and then all the rest is is the magic I mean it’s just the engagement the slowness the steadiness the process and um and then things happen I mean I I’ve watched I watch
clients just taking the lead line just taking a horse and being able to to walk with the horse around the
pasture takes patience takes acceptance of like I might not know what to do but if I just put my one foot ahead in front of the other I might be able to do this and you see the body you see the body sort of like maybe he’s really stiff or crooked or whatever and all of a sudden somebody’s alignment just like you see that that sushumna that line of energy just like Elevate them they just walk taller they walk Fuller they’re more open the horse’s ears perk up the but the yeah there’s something that joins up and it’s so magical powerful and beautiful that is so wonderful in fact you know since we started with the earthing thing it might be top of mind for me to do some Equine Therapy I think that would be really cool I think I’m in a really funky spot in my life to really receive that resource um because as you’re as you’re talking about I’m like maybe that could be me maybe a horse I’ve never held a horse before I’ve only ridden a horse one time and it bucked me off it didn’t Buck me off kind of fell and bucked me off I was trying to help itself we’re going down a hill um but the mindfulness and Attunement that can come as a result of one of those sessions and maybe you have your shoes off maybe you don’t but I’m I’m I’m envisioning like really receiving Earth’s energy yeah while you’re beginning to hold space with and potentially align with this animal that could step on your head yeah right and so there I think that’s important to you for whatever reason they represent you know like I was saying that subliminal world right there’s above and below but a horse if you think about it symbolically right rides across the world um you have nightmares you think about what is that that’s a female black horse that tramples through your subconscious your dream life and what does that represent what are they riding in to your life and so to be in touch and next to this very like intellectual and instinctual ual animal that that’s all that’s pure Instinct it’s embodied right and so and they’re showing you how to be okay with that can you hold the tension of an intellectual body and an instinctual body do you can you know do you know the difference can you integrate those two and you can do that by just standing with and alongside this animal who shows you the way it’s I know I’m oversimplifying it but it’s um is a powerful effective treatment clinically tested proven process and um it’s changed so many lives and it has the potential to change thousands millions more yeah I agree especially if people can get in front of authentic and integrous providers like yourself you’re reminding me of a equin based opportunity I may have been introduced to it by a friend it’s called Mustang medicine uhhuh you familiar yeah I am a little bit differently but the I think Mustangs correct me if I’m wrong but they live more in the lyic brain right they I don’t know about that per se but I think the Mustang I mean we we our country and and in our backyard we have a lot of Mustang sanctuaries you know so they live on the land they run in their herds and they are they’ve been sort of that poster child for like can we can we break them can we tame them you hear and you see a lot of the the horse Whisperers talk about this process the Mustang medicine in particular it just reminded me a lot of what you’re doing with clients in a in a little bit of a different way but they are bringing people in beds or otherwise and doing these intensives and before you know it by the end of the intensives these humans are laying on these Mustangs on top of them isn’t that amazing these these animals that only know for the most part Mustangs fight or flight yeah um are calm to the point where you’re laying on them I mean that is just that’s what reminded me when you were talking about the work you do with clients is this Attunement this alignment this coming into embodiment and Oneness with this really huge and assuredness and confidence and and self it’s really s with a capital S you know it’s like this inner knowing that you like I’m going to be okay I can find that which is so if if that was in a pill it’d be selling off the it’d be selling out everywhere and what’s really cool about it is we want the viewers to know that it’s there and accessible for each and every one of you it is it has been such a pleasure having you on but before we go I wanted to ask you one more question you may have answered it on the front end a little bit um but for the viewers I’m I’m very in alignment with professionals passionate professionals with a tremendous amount of purpose so I find myself asking each individual that I have the opportunity to interview is like what is your overarching why why do you do this why do you fight so hard for this well I thought about that because I you know you sent me questions and I was like I want to bring about I want people to experience the awe the Beauty and the connection with feeling alive and engaged Eng with ourselves and with our our natural environment like I feel that I feel called to be a steward and to to sort of be a way shower for others along this process of discovery self-discovery so that is wonderful I I love that because there’s going to be a myriad of people that are watching the show today that are sitting there with like a six and a half out of 10 quality of life yeah and they’re like ah you know maybe sober 10 years or been in the field 10 years whatever it is and just thinking like is this it yeah want something more want something more and um you really showed the viewers today and certainly um reemphasize my passion behind healing growing together coming into community and some of the resources some of the more cost-effective resources that we have at our Disposal today and so I really appreciate you coming on thank do you have a website you’d like to share with you yeah I have I have a few but you can reach me I almost wrote that I was like she can do this yeah so if you are looking for one-on-one coaching with me you can check me out at wayfinding practice.com you can find everything in everything about me under AMD cooper.com wonderful website oh thank reads really well it’s fresh It’s like got like colors yeah thank you I appreciate that um but I think um as an access point an entry point into all of the services and programs that I do way finding practice is probably the best way to reach me okay awesome well I can’t wait to get you in front of our treatment team they’re absolutely going to love the resource that you’re creating in the community and and begin to move into so thank you so much for coming on today I love I loved your energy and I uh this was just so fun for me awesome and yeah I’m looking forward to learning more and being part of it I cannot wait we we have to have you on again for a 2.0 after I come down to get some Equine Therapy I I want to be in that space on the 40 acres I want to see if my mind’s eye is accurate we can walk Barefoot in the trees oh that would be so cool yeah well thank you so much Amity until next time thank you all for joining us today please find us on all of your podcast Outlets Instagram Facebook podcast Apple music Spotify you name it until next time peace [Music] you