Retreat Archives - SHIFT-IT Coach

A NOTE FROM CHRISTINA

Christina Merkley — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 13:38:52 +0000

Hello from the west coast of Canada in rainy March. No real snow this winter; however, the rain is stubbornly consistent, as is customary for a temperate rain forest this time of year. When I go for walks, it’s dramatic, even gothic. Dripping in moody moss and stark sculptural branches. Atmospheric like the British novels... Read more »

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A NOTE FROM CHRISTINA

Christina Merkley — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 16:18:40 +0000

It’s been a busy time. Anneke Lucas and I, with an amazing international cohort, just wrapped a 10-Week Processing Group. We worked right through the holidays, even on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Offering community to Survivors through a period of time that is traditionally difficult. Tomorrow, we move into our Level 2 of Shifting... Read more »

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A NOTE FROM CHRISTINA

Christina Merkley — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 15:56:49 +0000

A nice respite. Enjoying the West Coast summer. Cheers! I celebrated my moon child birthday. I am conveniently bad with time, so they are amorphously blending into one another nowadays. My friends, even the doggedly left-brain ones, know not to remind me which one I’m on! I had a lovely time in Parksville on Vancouver... Read more »

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GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT: JAN RICHARDS

Christina Merkley — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 13:42:29 +0000

Today’s grad, Jan Richards, is located in Silicon Valley (where I was based in the 90s). A longtime business consultant and former National Baldridge Examiner, she’s a Grove Consultants aficionado (my former employer back in the heady dot-com days). Jan knows the efficient practicality of ‘working visually’, having successfully used the Grove’s Strategic Visioning and... Read more »

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GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT: DONNA CHEWNING

Christina Merkley — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 13:59:23 +0000

Donna has both personal and professional reasons for working visually. On a personal level, she is the mother of an adult son with a lifelong disability and limited communication abilities. Professionally, her career in Restorative Justice, Conflict Resolution, and Mediation – including her work with her state’s Supreme Court and Alternative Dispute Resolution Department, as... Read more »

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GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT: MICHELLE BASTOCK

Christina Merkley — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 17:00:41 +0000

Michelle entered Visual Coach Certification with a solid background in team, executive and retirement coaching, as well as course development and workshop design. Contracting with global coaching companies, she coaches executives and leaders in improving effectiveness, time management, and communication, identifying underlying issues, patterns, and challenges, and supports them to develop actionable plans that drive... Read more »

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HOLIDAY GIFT: Mini Visual Coaching Retreat

Christina Merkley — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 22:23:49 +0000

Happy Holidays! It’s tradition this time of year to gift my Mini SHIFT-IT Retreat. Like a virtual stocking stuffer … Visual Coaching Retreats can happen at any time. However, there are transitional times in our lives that deep reflection can be particularly useful. Like at the close of one year and the beginning of another, on... Read more »

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GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT: DAN DOHERTY

Christina Merkley — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 18:52:47 +0000

These grad spotlights can be from across the world, however, this one is from my own home town, Victoria BC Canada! Dan and I have known each other for over a decade. First meeting as fellow trainers and facilitators using the same downtown meeting/training facility. He first took my Visual Skills Bundle to improve his... Read more »

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GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT: HERMEKA RAY

Christina Merkley — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 16:37:13 +0000

MY LEARNING JOURNEY TAUGHT ME TO SHIFT FROM THE PROVERBIAL “DOING” TO “BEING”. A POWERFUL CATALYST THAT HAS FOREVER SHAPED A PROMISING FUTURE FOR ME AND MY CLIENTS. The work of a coach is all about change and the ability to draw a clarified vision, values, and insights – painting a purposeful picture filled with... Read more »

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GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT: CARLA YETTER

Christina Merkley — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 14:10:51 +0000

All sorts of folks find their way to Visual Coach Certification. Some of the bravest are those in conventional environments looking for a different, deeper, more creative way of working. When Carla travelled in person to one of my Magic Marker Masterminds, she’d already discovered the visual way of working and was courageously applying it... Read more »

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