Shauna Streich is a 2015 CAPP graduate and positive psychology-based coach. She is warm, authentic, compassionate, and passionate about igniting hope and possibility in those who are struggling.
With a unique background in accounting, psychology and competitive sports, Shauna worked in the field of disability management for 17 years, including 10 years at the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba. Inspired to help people find resources for health and wellbeing, she opened and successfully ran Pathway Rehabilitation, a company focused on the recovery of an individual following injury or disability. However, Shauna knew deep within that she wanted more – to empower and equip people going through challenging times with powerful tools.
One serependitous ‘Supersoul Sunday’, watching Shawn Achor speak about positive psychology, changed everything. The concept of positive psychology resonated with Shauna immediately, and though on crutches herself after reconstructive ankle surgery, she was determined to attend the Canadian Positive Psychology Association Conference. There, captivated by a talk given there by CAPP’s co-founder, Emiliya Zhivotovskaya, Shauna felt like she had arrived “home”.
A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Shauna’s passion to learn compelled her to cross international borders and fly into New York City for every one of the seven on-site weekends of CAPP. Shauna was engaged right from the start!
She had eureka moment during CAPP’s neuroscience module, when she realized the strong adaptive power of the brain and the fact that “anything is possible.” This led to the birth of Shauna’s current role – Founder & Owner of The Possibility Centre (thepossibilitycentre.com).
The Possibility Centre offers customized services for individuals and insurance companies in short-term and long-term disability management, helping them to return to work and function again, and integrating the tools of positive psychology and coaching. Learning about hope theory in CAPP raised Shauna’s optimism about people’s ability to create hope and possibility in their lives. She has been applying this theory, along with many of the principles of positive psychology and coaching, to help clients find their own “embers of hope”. Shauna describes her services as being like “paint primer” – preparing clients for the treatment they may need to undergo, or helping to close the gap in understanding between where they want to be and their motivaton to do so.
As a proud mother of two girls, Shauna is also committed to empowering our youth. Moved by a presentation by CAPP faculty member Christine Duvivier, MAPP, Founder of Positive Leaders, LLC, Shauna contacted her to learn more. Duvivier’s research at the University of Pennsylvania focused on strengths and gifts in those who are not top students, which led her to discover what she calls “Gifts that Conflict with School.” Christine’s mission is to bring out the true potential in leaders and innovators, no matter their age or current performance, by helping them unleash hidden talents.
Shauna asked how she could utilize Christine’s research in her work with children and families. As a result, she is now assisting by providing feedback on an assessment tool Christine is developing that will allow professionals and individuals to understand and amplify the Gifts that Conflict with School. Shauna will be the first to have access to this tool and is also helping Duvivier as she creates a training program for those interested in bringing out the full potential in young people with a new model.
Christine says, “Shauna Streich is bright, thoughtful, insightful, warm-hearted, and she asks terrific questions that not only help her clients but will also help her peers and other professionals to bring out strengths and gifts in themselves and their clients.”
Shauna says that CAPP has had a “profound impact” on her personal and professional life, and she never could have imagined that she would be assisting people not only with injury and illness, but people from all walks of life. For Shauna, CAPP was the first time in her life when she felt truly “seen, understood, and safe” and she is now bringing that gift to others. The Possibility Centre is an oasis of hope – a place where people will always be cared for, listened to, and guided towards the light.
Thank you Shauna! Your presence in this world is truly a center of possibility.
<Spotlight contributed by Kalpana Parekh, CAPP>