Who Am I?
Taking a Whole-Person Approach to Wellness
My passion is to help people to find healthy ways of coping with the emotional pain caused by a loss, change in health, or physical injury so they can get back to living their lives. Having personally experienced a traumatic injury followed by a complicated recovery (6 surgeries in 6 years), loss of hearing in one ear, brain surgery for a cerebral aneurysm and ongoing recovery process, loss of sight in my left eye, as well as the deaths of several loved ones, I feel drawn to helping others navigate the churning waters during difficult life experiences.
My studies have allowed me to blend the theories and practical applications of wellness coaching, grief support, mind/body medicine, and sport psychology for the benefit of people from all walks of life. I continue to learn as much as I can about grief, wellness, mind/body connections, and as an end-of-life specialist after sitting vigil at the bedside of several family members.
Here’s my story…
For the past several years I have been living with the effects from a stubborn broken ankle – a souvenir from my trip to the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica in 2007. It just so happened that I was in the middle of working on my bachelor’s degree in psychology when I fell, so my senior thesis topic became, naturally, The Psychological Effects of Traumatic Injury. These are some photos from my trip…Spending countless hours researching about the emotional effects of traumatic injury or loss of health has shown me that there are many mind/body/spirit effects that happen when a person suffers an injury, unexpected surgery, sudden illness, lifestyle transition, or major loss of any kind.
I am passionately drawn to this topic and studied it further in my Master’s program. I am also sitting at the feet of some amazing professional coaching mentors and healthcare practitioners in order to learn how to help – guide, encourage, and gently nudge – people to be able to not just “get better” but actually thrive and grow during the healing process.
Traveling is one of my passions and I hope to do as much of it as I can. Another thing I love to do is spend time learning, and the topics that interest me are many and varied. The Internet is just about the best invention ever, in my opinion. I can get lost online following rabbit trails of new topics and burrow deeply into those that speak to my heart and soul. Spending so much time on the computer during school and while recovering from multiple surgeries has also sparked an interest in blogging, playing around with designing websites, and social media.
I look forward to meeting and working with people who have experienced a sudden change in life and may have become stuck, or just need someone to hear your story. If you think this is something you would like to know more about, please contact me and we will see if there is a way we can work together.
PS: Here’s a photo of my hubby and me standing on a glacier in Alaska just 2 1/2 years after my accident in Costa Rica… thanks to my amazing team of healing professionals. I’m living proof that it IS possible to thrive following a traumatic injury and difficult recovery.
My Training
If you are into credentials, here are some of mine:
Educational Background:
- M.S. Psychology -Thesis: A Wellness Coaching Approach to Enhanced Healing of Orthopaedic Injury
- B.A. Psychology -Thesis: The Psychological Effects of Traumatic Injury
- A.A. Business Administration/Accounting
Continuing Education:
- Certified Performing Edge® Professional, Level 2 – Dr. JoAnn Dahlkoetter
- Certified New Life Story® Wellness Coach – David Krueger, MD
- Certified Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist® – The Grief Recovery Institute
- Certified Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster™ Facilitator – Peggy Huddleston
- Certified Wellness Inventory Facilitator – WellPeople
- Certified Profit from Your Passions Idea Generator – Valerie Young, EdD
- Certified End of Life Specialist – Patti Burgess-Brecht, founder of Teaching Transitions
- Creative Grief Support – The Creative Grief Studio
- Certified Stress Management Coach – The Spencer Institute/NESTA
- Certified Uniquely You® DiSC Human Behavior & Wellness Motivation Consultant – Dr. Mels Carbonell
- Certified Biblical Health Coach – Jordan Rubin
- Clinical Applications of Deep Imagination Levels 1 & 2 – Leslie Davenport at JFKU
- Fundamentals of Interactive Guided Imagerysm – AGI
- Coaching Transitions; Mind and Brain Science for Strategic Coaching – MentorPath®
- Change Your Brain, Change Your Body – Dr. Daniel Amen, CAMFT 2011
- Social Media Manager training – Kate Buck, founder of Social Media Manager Pro
- Social Media Manager training – Dr. Jennifer Bennett
- End of Life Doula training – Deanna Cochrane, RN, founder of Quality of Life Care
Professional Recommendations:
I am extremely impressed with her work, and I would highly recommend Sue Hasker to any college or to any of my colleagues or clients. Our work together involved education and rigorous training around the Your Performing Edge Coaching method and general coaching techniques for working with a variety of complex client issues.
As a performance coach to Olympians and CEO’s, who has been on the medical staff of Stanford University Medical Center for 10 years, Sue was absolutely one of the most advanced and creative students I’ve had the opportunity to train.”
Dr. JoAnn Dahlkoetter, Performing Edge Coaching International
Sue Hasker brings unique experiences in psychology, grief recovery, and performance coaching to the Professional Coaching field. She is well trained, including being licensed and specialty-certified as a New Life Story® Wellness Coach. Her engaging and creative coaching style makes her a most accomplished professional. I highly and unequivocally recommend her.”
David Krueger MD, Executive Mentor Coach, CEO MentorPath
Sue has reminded me what it means to accept life, with all of its challenges, and get up and do it all again the next day. Sue’s difficulties with her leg—from the initial accident, and through the current state of repair—are daunting to hear about. I can’t imagine living through it, and I hope I’ll never have to know what it’s truly like. But, in my wildest imagination, I can’t think that a harrowing medical saga would inspire me to help other people in a similar situation. Luckily, for the rest of us, there are people like Sue, who turn adversity into opportunity.”
Sue did a really good job of making us feel comfortable with the whole [coaching] process. Very patient with us if we needed more guidance.”
B.M., Group Coaching Client
Sue was tremendously helpful for me in recovering emotionally from injury. A lifelong athlete, I felt devastated after a knee injury which prevented me from participating in my favorite activities. Sue helped me identify the deeper issues behind this loss, which was critical for my being able to address them and begin the emotional healing process. Sue is an excellent listener and was able to gently guide and encourage me along this path.”
K.S., Private Coaching Client
“I met with Sue a few times after my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. I was feeling overwhelmed by the addition of extra work, trips to the dr., medical bills, complications, medication, trips to the ER, and insurance, besides the obvious stress that comes with this type of a diagnosis. Through thoughtful questions, guided conversations, and practical ideas and resources, Sue helped me organize my thoughts and my schedule. She helped me discern what was truly important for us and focus on that. Through my sessions with Sue, I’ve been able to enjoy peace during a season of chaos.”
G.W., Private Wellness Coaching Client
