As an Addiction Recovery & Life Coach, Joy feels her purpose is to help you rediscover your True Self — to get back to your natural state of physical, mental, spiritual & emotional equilibrium — so that you can make choices that help move you forward into the life you deserve.

Joy believes we’re all recovering from something. But while she’s had her share of emotional obstacles, she’s never been addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Her first introduction to the world of addiction & recovery came when her sister checked into her first drug & alcohol rehabilitation center. This was one of many treatment programs she would experience on her journey to recovery — and it marked a turning point in Joy’s life, as well.

Her sister’s addiction triggered an avalanche of emotion. She saw, for the first time, how she’d enabled her dis-ease. How she’d built relationships anchored on extreme co-dependence. How she’d allowed friends, family & boyfriends to stomp all over her boundaries — never really knowing what a boundary was, in the first place! It was Joy’s wake-up call — and a call-to-action.

And while her sister set off on her own healing journey, Joy began hers . . .

The next several years were a blur of academic credentials (two Masters Degrees — one in Education & another in Professional Counseling), elementary school teaching, life coaching adventures, spiritual inquiry and life-altering travel.

Joy was guided to spiritual & professional mentors and studied a wealth of healing modalities, from Emotional Intelligence and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Body-Centered Coaching, StoryPlay® Coaching and Ericksonian Hypnotherapy.

She celebrated her 40th birthday in Pune, India — where she spent 3 weeks alone at the OSHO ashram, and decided to change her name from Michelle to her middle name: Joy. It took her decades to grow into & embody the meaning of Joy — and renaming herself was a powerful, tangible milestone on her journey to self-actualization.

Joy flew to Morocco to present a workshop at the Play Therapy International World Congress, one of the proudest moments of her life.

Through it all, Joy worked as an elementary school teacher — where every single day, the kids in her classroom showed me the true nature of creativity, resilience & joy.

But she wasn’t destined to be a grade-school teacher — forever.

Something was brewing, under the surface.

When a total stranger contacted her for parent coaching, she inadvertently found herself with her first addiction recovery client.

And as they began working together, Joy realized he’d been the sign she was waiting for — An invitation to the next chapter of her career, and her true calling. The work she was born to do.

If you’re seeking a compassionate coach to help you along to the Next Step of your recovery, Joy would be honored to support you.