I’m Leanne, the dreamer behind Heart Work, a transformative healing space where understanding your life story merges with your body’s wisdom.
How I got here…
I never planned to become a therapist. My goal was always to use my life to explore the deeper meaning of it all (no pressure, right?). As a kid, I felt captivated by the mysteries of science fiction novels and my grandmother’s soap operas, observing how people navigated adventure and change. Later, academia became my guide, offering theories that I hoped held the keys to life’s big questions. I became an adjunct professor working with future helping professionals, bringing plenty of rich, thought-provoking conversations to my life. I created therapeutic spaces with individuals, couples, families and communities working on healing trauma, building connection and searching for their own meaning in life. Like many in the West who practice yoga, I discovered that the peace I found on my mat provided a form of healing that theories couldn't quite reach. Could healing happen in both realms at once? The answer is yes.
I hold space for people who wonder and wander, the people who stand with courage at the edge of change, trying to listen past the noise of expectations and into the quiet truth of their own hearts. It is such a human, universal experience to feel changed by the grief of a relationship ending, the ache of not knowing who you really are, the longing to feel alive. You don’t have to be alone in that.
I’m here to walk beside you. Not with a map, but with a lantern. We will look past the static of societal expectations and listen to your body, your heart.
Over time, things will shift. This is heart work. And it changes everything.
From Personal Breakthrough to Personal Mission
Heart Work was born from the wreckage of my own life.
My beloved big brother died unexpectedly and it shattered everything I thought I knew. At the time, I worked in end of life care, and I witnessed all of my beloved theories and the scaffolding of the professional world crumble. What did any of it actually mean? I realized that no amount of intellect, training or spiritual bypassing could save me from the process of reckoning that I’d be forced to go through. I had to feel it. I had to live it. I had to let it change me. I took my broken heart and created the most beautiful thing I could think of: a life of service to offer support and witness to others in who are reckoning with something big.
That wasn’t the first time life cracked me open. I’ve built a life and burned it down a few times, sometimes on purpose, most of the time not. I’ve experienced love that felt like magic and losses that felt like wildfire. Each time, the path forward wasn’t in pushing harder to achieve wellness, there were no Top Ten Tips to gain clarity, though I think I read them all. The only healing that worked required softening. It was found by listening to the quiet knowing that lives in the body and the heart.
Heart Work is my offering from that place. It’s the space I built when I realized the tools I needed didn’t come from just one path - they came from the intersection of therapy, embodiment, presence and love.
This isn’t about fixing you. It’s about showing you how to come home to yourself. Because life will break you open. Healing isn’t about pretending otherwise, it’s about learning how to stay rooted when it does.
I’m on a mission
In a world that promises quick fixes, numbing out, and doing what’s expected, I’m here to offer something deeper. My mission is to guide individuals and couples back to themselves. To the parts of them that still believe in love, growth, and resonates with life force energy. You don’t need to become someone else to live a beautiful life. You just need to come home to your own juicy heart and the roots of who you are. I’ll show you how.
The Resume
Master’s Degree in Social Work with 18 years as a therapist specializing in identity transitions and relationships. I have specialized, advanced training in narrative therapy, Internal Family Systems therapy, and integrated sex and relationship therapy.
University Professor supporting new helping professionals to understand both the landscapes of therapy and how their unique approach to the work is what is special and important.
Yoga Teacher who finds peace in the unique combination of grounded, spiritual philosophy and the joy of play. Be here now.
Writer with a handful of published pieces and stacks of unpublished works in progress. I can’t stop, won’t stop viewing the human experience in stories.
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I WAS ONCE KNOWN AS
Princess Mommy (motherhood collided with a pink hair phase when my kiddo was a toddler)
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BIGGEST SURPRISE
Qualifying for Team Canada in the World Triathlon competition
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MOST OVERUSED WORD IN SESSIONS
Vibes
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FAVOURITE MOMENT ON HOLIDAY
Wandering the same streets my ancestors once walked in Norway, headphones on, lost in an incredible playlist and the magic of it all.
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MOST UNEXPECTED PLACE I GREW AS A THERAPIST
In a night class called The Metaphysics of Quantum Physics. Turns out “the universe” does hold all the answers.
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WHAT GROUNDS ME
Inside jokes, community, and a deep sense of play.
Where to next?
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Heart Work is a soulful newsletter for those craving more meaning, beauty, and connection in their lives. Written by a therapist, professor, and lifelong seeker, it blends personal insight with practical wisdom to inspire thoughtful living. Sign up to receive honest reflections, gentle provocations, and grounded tools for living with heart.
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Not sure where to begin? Let’s start with a conversation—an open, easy space to connect. You can share what’s on your mind, what you’re longing for, or what feels heavy right now. I’ll listen, ask a few thoughtful questions, and we’ll see where it leads.