My Story
Christyn Rittenhouse, CPCC, ACC
International Coaching Federation, Associate Certified Coach 2023
CTI, Coach Training International. Co-Active Certified Coaching 2023
PQ (Positive Intelligence) trained 2021
BA from NIU in psychology and a minor in sociology 1994
Hi, I'm Christyn.
First of all, I'm a water lover - ocean, lake, or river...in it, on it, or under it. Water is my go to for resetting, recharging, and or finding rich mystery to help describe the un-describable. Due to this you'll notice a lot of water features as metaphors in my work. I am also an avid reader and creative writer. I bring fiction and humor into coaching, as a sense of play (where appropriate) can take the sting out of many challenging topics. In addition to this, even in my youth I was told I was a 'good listener'. With the excellent training through CTI I have super charged that natural skill. I will not only hear what you say but hear what you may not be saying. Humans are so delightfully complex!
Eventually my porous boundaries, people pleasing tendencies, and lack of authentic awareness and acceptance led to burnout. Life coaching literally saved my life. But first...
As to my own healing path I can empathize with the clunky, messy, and amazing trip of getting to know oneself. The more we know ourselves the easier, more fulfilling, and fun life can be. I am tenacious at unraveling a good mystery. And we are, all, a mystery. Long ago a dear friend once suggested that I take a 'little dip in Lake Me'. This is a bit of what my swim looked like.... from belly-flops to butterfly.
When I first experienced life coaching I'd already been on an epic two decade plus quest to find contentment and happiness. Actually, happiness was really on the back burner by then. While I would have loved a more joyful life, I'd settle for a touch of inner peace or even the absence of consistent and persistent inner turmoil.
For years I got lost in cul-de-sacs constantly, heading down to the next road to 'the answer' that would finally help me figure shit out. I'd have moments, even seasons of relief...but nothing really stuck for the long haul. I sailed courageously into my inner depths. I was no coward when it come to self discovery. I was COMMITTED. I would peel that damned onion until I was all cried out. Whatever it took, I told myself.
I drove on country roads with the radio blaring and got loud!
I went on silent retreats and got quiet.
I charted dreams and meditated. I walked labyrinths and sat in sweat lodges. I did Family Constellation, tapping, brain charting, EMDR, talk therapy, visited shamans, saw holistic practitioners, and consulted psychics (just to name a few of the things I tried).
All of those things taught me something. Some moved the needle more than others. One of them landed me in the ER. But none of them created the transformation I was desperate to find.
What really changed me, altered my emotional DNA were three things:
1. Staying put (thanks, pandemic!)
2. Practicing self-compassion and acceptance
3. Life Coaching (co-active coaching and Positive Intelligence)
Despite all the books I'd read, the answers for me were not on paper - they were inside me. I could only really change in community - with another. This practice of checking in over and over, looking to my heart and my intuition for the answers of my own truth again and again was the true healing I'd been searching for. This real time practice gave me skills and tools I could take out of "the lab" (aka, my couch) and out into "the field" (real world). That's where the real change happened.
The practice of checking in over and over, looking to one's heart and intuition for one's own truth is the real healing that leads to transformation.
Our world needs healing. We can start with ourselves, which can inspire others. With inspiration comes hope and with hope anything is possible.
I can't wait to hear what YOUR story!