Elaine St. Marie                                      

Education:

B.A. in Sociology from St. Edwards University (1994)

M.Ed. in Counseling and Guidance from Texas State University (1997)

Experience:

I have many years of experience in helping individuals and groups in matters related to grief and loss.  I earned my degree in counseling 10 years ago and have passed the counseling exam but am not a Licensed Professional Counselor.  I  have successfully completed the Nutritional Consultant program through the Global College of Natural Medicine (2006) and completed 200 hours of Hatha Yoga training in May 2007 at Yoga Yoga (Austin). 

Even though I learned much in my educational pursuits, most of my learning has come from life and the challenges that came with it.  In 1986,  I gave birth to a child with a fatal disability and from 1989 until 1994 worked intensively with parents of other children with disabilites on issues of grief, loss, advocacy and acceptance.  I worked with individuals, couples and with groups, helping them to come to terms with their grief and losses.  After a painful divorce and my daughter's death in 1991, I began to focus on issues of death, dying, divorce, grief and loss.   I was asked to speak on topics of disability, grief, loss and advocacy at conferences, and several different universities and was often a speaker at the funerals of other children who died.

After another life changing moment in 2003, I took up a paint brush and began to paint my feelings onto canvas.  I don't really think of myself as an artist but more as a writer who writes in colors, strokes, swirls and shapes.  My pictures help me express thoughts and emotions and I love to share with others to see what they see in the painting.  If you are interested in checking out some of my art, take a look at www.expressiveflair.com.  I believe much healing can take place through creativity.

At this point in my life I can say I have over 30 years of parenting experience (my eldest born in 1976) and have lived through a variety of personal health issues and a few divorces.  It has been a challenging life but it has brought gifts of empathy, compassion, nurturing and love into my life.  At this point in my life, my greatest desire is to be of service and to help others find their way to seeing the gifts in their own life challenges.