When you're experiencing workplace abuse, retaliation, discrimination, harassment, or another difficult workplace situation, every decision can feel overwhelming. You may be wondering whether to report the behavior, document incidents, request an accommodation, involve your union, consult an attorney, or simply leave.

You don't have to navigate those decisions alone.

Employee Advocacy provides confidential, one-on-one strategic guidance to help you understand your options, evaluate potential risks and benefits, and develop a clear plan for moving forward.

As the founder of End Workplace Abuse and a workplace abuse specialist, I'll help you:

• Assess your workplace situation.

• Clarify your goals and priorities.

• Identify practical options for moving forward.

• Develop documentation strategies.

• Prepare for conversations with supervisors, HR, or investigators.

• Evaluate reporting, accommodation, grievance, or complaint options.

• Think through the advantages and disadvantages of staying or leaving.

• Prepare for interviews and career transitions.

• Build a personalized action plan that evolves as your situation changes.

My role is to help you make informed, strategic decisions—not decisions driven by fear, confusion, or pressure.

Employee Advocacy combines practical workplace expertise with compassionate support so you can approach your situation with greater confidence and clarity.

Please note: Employee Advocacy is educational and strategic in nature. It is not legal advice, legal representation, therapy, or counseling. When appropriate, I'll refer you to employment attorneys, therapists, unions, government agencies, or other professionals who may be able to assist.

How It Works

Step 1: Initial Workplace Strategy Session

30 minutes — $25

We'll discuss your situation, identify your biggest concerns, clarify your desired outcome, and determine which advocacy package best fits your needs.

If you decide to move forward, your $25 investment will be credited toward your package.
 

Employee Advocacy Packages

Workplace Strategy Package

$197

Perfect for employees who need clarity and a plan before making important decisions.

Includes:

• Three 60-minute strategy sessions

• Personalized action plan

• Documentation guidance

• Meeting preparation

• Priority email support between sessions (up to two emails per week)

Best for employees deciding whether to report, stay, leave, or prepare for upcoming conversations.

Workplace Navigation Package

$397

For employees actively navigating an ongoing workplace issue.

Includes:

• Six 60-minute strategy sessions

• Personalized action plan

• Documentation review and strategy

• Meeting preparation

• Interview preparation (if applicable)

• Priority email support throughout the package

• Strategy adjustments as your situation evolves

Best for employees dealing with investigations, retaliation, performance improvement plans, accommodation requests, grievances, or preparing to transition into a healthier workplace.

Workplace Advocacy Intensive

$597

Comprehensive support for complex or high-stakes workplace situations.

Includes:

• One 90-minute intensive strategy session

• Six additional 60-minute advocacy sessions

• Comprehensive written Workplace Strategy Roadmap

• Documentation and communication review

• Meeting preparation

• Interview preparation

• Priority email support throughout the engagement

• One emergency 30-minute phone consultation, if needed

Ideal for employees facing particularly complex workplace situations who want ongoing strategic guidance from start to finish.

Logistics

• Sessions are confidential and conducted by Zoom or phone.

• Payment is required before your Initial Workplace Strategy Session.

• Please provide at least 24 hours' notice if you need to reschedule. Missed appointments or cancellations with less than 24 hours' notice may count toward your package.

• Weekend appointments are currently available.

Ready to create a strategy?

Schedule your 30-minute Initial Workplace Strategy Session today.

Workplace abuse can shake your confidence, leave you questioning yourself, and make it difficult to imagine what's next. Whether you're still in a toxic work environment or trying to rebuild after leaving one, you don't have to navigate it alone.

Together, we'll move beyond simply surviving and begin creating a life that feels intentional, meaningful, and aligned with your values.

As a Workplace Healing Coach and Certified Life Coach, I'll help you:

• Process the emotional impact of workplace abuse.

• Rebuild confidence and trust in yourself.

• Clarify your values and long-term goals.

• Reduce stress and develop healthy coping strategies.

• Set and maintain boundaries.

• Work through fears and difficult decisions.

• Explore options for navigating your current workplace or planning your next career move.

• Create a practical roadmap for moving forward with purpose.

My approach combines compassionate support with practical strategy. Drawing on years of experience helping hundreds of workplace abuse survivors, I'll help you think through your situation, identify realistic next steps, and build a life that's no longer defined by what happened at work.

Coaching sessions are confidential and available by Zoom or phone.

Please note: Coaching is designed to support personal growth, decision-making, and healing. It is not a substitute for therapy or mental health treatment, particularly for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. If you're looking for a therapist with experience in workplace abuse, please visit our Workplace Abuse Therapist Directory.

Coaching Options

Initial Strategy Session

30 minutes — $25

Our first session is an opportunity to get to know one another, explore where you are today, clarify where you'd like your life to go, and determine whether coaching is the right fit for you.

If you decide to continue, your $25 investment will be credited toward your first full coaching session.

Use coupon code COACH when scheduling your initial session.

Ongoing Coaching

60-minute sessions — $50

We'll meet regularly to support your progress, celebrate wins, overcome obstacles, and keep you moving toward the life you're intentionally creating.

Logistics

• Sessions are conducted by Zoom or phone.

• Payment is required before each session.

• Please provide at least 24 hours' notice if you need to reschedule. Missed appointments or cancellations with less than 24 hours' notice may be charged.

• Weekend appointments are currently available.

Ready to begin?

Schedule your 30-minute Initial Strategy Session today.

Navigate workplace abuse with the support of a coach and a community facing similar challenges. Learn practical strategies, explore your options, and gain the confidence to make informed decisions while knowing you don't have to face your workplace alone.

If you're currently dealing with abuse at work, go from self-blame to no shame in the Re-Claim Your Power After Abuse At Work Bootcamp. Learn more »

Heal alongside others who understand what you're going through in a supportive, confidential community. Through guided coaching, shared experiences, and practical tools, you'll rebuild confidence, process your experiences, and create a hopeful path forward.

If you're healing from abuse at work, become the CEO of Your Life in the Re-Define Your Life After Abuse At Work Bootcamp. Learn more »

Millions of employees experience workplace abuse each year, yet very few professionals are trained to help them navigate it.

The Employee Advocacy Certification equips professionals with the knowledge, practical tools, and confidence to support employees experiencing workplace abuse while understanding the limits of their role and when to refer to other professionals.

Whether you're a coach, therapist, HR professional, attorney, union representative, career coach, social worker, or simply passionate about supporting workers, this certification will provide a practical framework for helping employees make informed decisions during one of the most difficult periods of their lives.

Throughout the certification, you'll learn how to:

• Recognize the dynamics and impacts of workplace abuse.

• Understand the systems that often enable abusive workplace behavior.

• Help employees think through their options without directing their decisions.

• Support documentation and strategic planning.

• Navigate conversations about reporting, accommodations, investigations, retaliation, and career transitions.

• Maintain appropriate professional boundaries and recognize when legal, clinical, or other specialized referrals are needed.

• Communicate with confidence while remaining ethical and trauma-informed.

• Become a knowledgeable, trusted resource for employees seeking guidance.

This certification is designed to complement—not replace—the expertise you already bring to your profession.

Upon successful completion, you'll receive your Employee Advocacy Certification and demonstrate your commitment to helping create psychologically safer workplaces.

Who Should Enroll?

This certification is ideal for:

• Coaches

• Therapists

• Social workers

• Attorneys

• Union representatives

• HR professionals

• Employee assistance professionals

• Career coaches

• Nonprofit advocates

• Workplace investigators

• Anyone who regularly supports employees experiencing workplace conflict or abuse

Course Format

• Self-paced online learning

• Lifetime access to course materials

• Downloadable resources and practical tools

• Certificate of Completion upon successful completion

Ready to Become a Certified Employee Advocate?

Join a growing community of professionals committed to helping employees navigate workplace abuse with knowledge, compassion, and confidence.

When we suffer in toxic work environments, we often feel alone and fearful. We may not know who else has experienced abuse at our workplaces. And we may fear retaliation for speaking up (since the outcome is often more abuse).

But speaking up collectively is what has the greatest chance of results. And going through the media (even anonymously) can give you your voice back your abuser took AND provide the accountability our legal system too often doesn't.

I'm tapping into that collective power that has the most likelihood of getting reporters' attention — to get employers to change their ways.

I'll contact reporters and/or hold a strike (based on options in your state) when at least three employees at one company report bullying and are willing to share their experiences, even anonymously.

Fill out the form using the button below, and if at least two others from your company (current or former employees) do the same, I'll setup a Zoom call so we can come up with a game plan to expose the toxic work culture at minimal risk to you.

Report your company.

The first step in healing from your experience is telling your story without fear of judgment.

You ask yourself: What just happened? Why I am feeling so numb? How did I just get abused and lose my job? How could this happen to me? And why? Why I am feeling so depressed and angry at the same time? What will I do now? What did I do to deserve this? Did I do something wrong? Am I a bad person?

Sound familiar? Intuitive Healer Carolyn Myss says losses are sudden changes that we did not want to happen to us. It’s fine if they happen to other people as long as it’s not us. We spend our time trying to figure out why the trauma happened to us and what we did to deserve it. We believe it’s unfair and become angry and stuck in the past. Our intense emotions get in the way of rationally thinking about how to move forward.

Instead, focus on the present. What can we learn from these painful experiences? How do we find hope during these difficult times? Dr. Judith Orloff recommends taking a breath and closing your eyes. Think about removing your sadness and depression and listen for insights, not results. We can find hope and meaning after suffering and inhumane treatment. We make choices on how to respond to suffering. We can learn lessons from our suffering as opportunities to awaken and heal our souls.

In her book The Art of Extreme Self-Care, Cheryl Richardson created the “Extreme Self-Care First Aid Kit” for facing trauma:

1. Who can I turn to for support when I am feeling afraid, sad, and angry? Who comforts me, makes me feel safe, and allows me to have my feelings?
2. Who do I need to avoid? Who overwhelms me with questions or has a tough time just listening without interrupting or offering advice?
3. What does my body need to feel nurtured, strong, and healthy?
4. What responsibilities or commitments do I need to let go of to clear some space so that I am able to feel my feelings and do what’s necessary to honor and support my needs?
5. What unhelpful coping strategies or activities should I avoid?
6. What spiritual/religious practice connects me with the higher power of my understanding?
7. What do I need to feel comforted at this time?
8. How will I best express my feelings?
9. What object can I use as a cue to remind me to breathe and relax my mind and then turn back to my awareness at the present moment?
10. What can I do when I need to take a break from the emotional stress? What are my top healthy distractions?

The rug has been pulled. You feel alone in the arena with your face smacked down in the center of the ring. You don’t know where to turn or what to do. “Like Humpty Dumpty, we have fallen off the wall, broken into a million pieces that cannot be put together again. We can never be resembled in exactly the same way. We are forever changed,” states Dr. Robert Neimeyer.

Survivors adapt after their loss and contribute to developing a new identity that has a sense of meaning to them, according to Susan Berger, author of The Five Ways We Grieve.  

Here’s how we form new identities:

1. We learn nothing stays permanent in our lives. Only temporary experiences last for set times beyond our control.
2. Time has new meaning. While we either lived in the past or future, we now realize how precious the present time is.
3. Our values and drives change. We might make sure workplace abuse does not happen to others by advocating for a law to outlaw workplace abuse.
4. We learn to focus more on supportive people in our lives. We create new purpose in our lives to make the world a better place.

When we lose a job, we refocus on what really matters in life.

We experience grief through non-sequential stages: shock, denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. We may decide to see a counselor to process the loss.

Scarcity is a combination of shame, comparison, and disengagement.

Shame. In Dare to Lead (2018), Dr. Brene Brown defines shame as “the intensely painful feelings or experience of believing that we are flawed, and therefore, unworthy of love, belonging, and connection.” Do you believe you aren’t good enough due to blaming, finger-pointing, and name-calling? These are shame-based behaviors that make us want to hide.

Shame example: “I am bad.” We internalize it.
Guilt example: “I did something bad.” We feel regretful over the behavior.

Define what shame means to you. Did you feel shame while growing up? Can you name a situation when you felt shame? How did your parents react to you? Did you feel shame while abused at work? Describe the situation on paper or verbally.

Vulnerability. The emotions we experience during times of uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure aren’t about winning or losing but rather the courage to show when you can’t control the outcome of the situation, according to Dr. Brene Brown, author of Daring Brave.

Remember what your family taught you about vulnerability. Was it OK to feel or suppress and ignore? Describe feeling vulnerable at work and in your personal life now. How does it feel? Do you put the armor on as you soon as think about it? Ask yourself:
Is feeling vulnerable easy?
Does vulnerability make you want to self-protect with armor? Does it make you feel anxious?
Is courage required to show up for these experiences with a whole heart?

We can decide not to get sucked into the negative feedback at work by learning from comments but not ruminating about them afterwards. Let the comments drop to the side of you and take deep breaths. Grow from them.

Undo the armor we wear when we feel hurt, angry, and sad. Lean into vulnerability with courage. Feeling vulnerable can lead us become creative and innovative. Vulnerability is the beginning of feeling love, joy, and belonging.

Brene Brown encourages us to:

1. Recognize shame and understand our triggers. When we feel shame, what happens to us? What shame shields do we put up? Do we move away by withdrawing, hiding, and keeping secrets to ourselves, move toward by pleasing people, or move against by being aggressive back, using shame to fight shame?
2. Practice critical awareness. Do we feel we’re the only ones in the situation seeing our mistakes? When we realize we’re not the only one feeling shame, we start to reality check our shame triggers and their corresponding expectations that grew the shame.
3. Reach out and find the courage to share our experiences and/or have the compassion to listen to other’s stories. Sharing removes the sting of the fear, blame, and disconnection.
4. Name the shame and speak to those we trust who will empathize. Empathy is the antidote to shame. We want someone to reflect back what they heard and tell us we are not alone.

We’ve fallen down and scraped our knees. It’s time to get up again, move on from our mistakes, and face the hurt.

We’re filled with intense emotions from feeling humiliated at work. The feelings of anger, fear, anxiety, and sadness cloud our abilities to make sense of what happened to us at work. We can get curious about our emotions. What do we experience when we get triggered?

I feel______ (fill in the emotion). Examples: My stomach is in knots. I want to kick or punch someone. I feel embarrassed. I feel hurt. I can’t stop playing that scene over and over in my head.

Take deep breaths. Breathe in through your nose for 5, hold for 5, let it out for 5, and hold the exhale for 5.

Walk into your story. Get curious.

The Rumble

You own your story and you can rewrite the

ending. Bird by Bird Author Ann LaMott recommends writing a first draft from the mind of a child. Dump all of the raw emotions out on paper. Make sure no one can see it. Our brains look for patterns and receive dopamine rewards when we see patterns, regardless of whether the story is correct or not. Out of fear, our minds fill in gaps with made-up information to develop conspiracies and/or add false information to complete our stories.

The Recovery
Margaret Atwood says to move from a story of mixed-up pieces to the real story, ask ourselves three questions:

1. What more do I need to learn and understand about the situation regarding my assumptions? What do I really know about what’s objectively going on?
2. What more do I need to learn and understand about other people in the story? What questions might help? What additional information do I need?
3. What more do I need to learn and understand about myself? What part did I play in this, if any? What am I really feeling?

As we rumble through these questions of owning our stories, remember we can rewrite our endings by believing that we’re still loveable.

“Just because someone failed to see the value in what we can create or achieve doesn’t change its worth or ours.” — Dr. Brene Brown

The Revolution
Have the courage to face your vulnerability and transform to live with worthiness, love, and the knowledge you’re an imperfect, authentic being.

You probably feel confused about the values your former company espouses in terms of integrity, hard work, and productivity. The abuser and the organization did not operate from a place of integrity and compassion. The employer failed to live up to their values in promoting a healthy work environment and instead showed their true colors of practicing greed, deceit, and unprofessional behavior toward their employees.

It’s time to redefine and practice your own values moving forward in your journey in life.

We admit we’ve been hurt, betrayed, and traumatized from abuse at work. We ask ourselves “How can I trust myself again? How will it get better? What was I thinking by staying and making believe it was not happening to me?”

It will take small steps to built up trust again in yourself. Learn from your mistakes.

Dr. Brene Brown uses the acronym “BRAVING” for developing trust again in her book Dare To Lead.

B is Boundaries: What are my boundaries? Did I cross a boundary or did I feel my abuser at work crossed my boundary? What is OK and not OK?

R is Reliability: Can I count on myself to protect my boundaries?

A is Accountability: Did I hold my workplace abuser accountable for what was done to me? Did I hold myself accountable for accepting or not knowing was going on at work?

V is Vault: Did I properly share information that was meant to be shared or not?

I is Integrity: Did I choose courage over comfort? Did I operate on my values? Did I do what I thought was right or opt-out instead?

N is Non-Judgment: Did I ask for help when I needed it? Did I practice non-judgment with myself?

G is Generosity: Was I generous with myself? When I made big mistakes, did I say “I gave it my best shot?” Did I say “It’s going to be OK” and stop beating myself up over it?

We experienced trauma and harm from workplace abuse and want to do something about it. As advocates, we can make proactive changes to outlaw workplace abuse in our states. We want our state legislators to hear our stories so they can understand how we suffered from workplace abuse. We don’t want it to happen to anyone else.

We can advocate for change on the systems and/or individual level:

Systems Advocacy: Join statewide grassroots campaigns to outlaw workplace abuse. Research current campaigns in your state on social media. Join the movement at EndWorkplaceAbuse.com, get involved, and connect with fellow survivors who have turned their pain into action. You will learn tips on how to lobby your legislators.

Individual Advocacy: Share your story in the media (blogs, magazines, newspapers, podcasts, books, social media videos, etc.) to help others learn they’re not alone.

Fill out the Seven Dimensions of Wellness Self-Assessment. If you score less than two in any area, write down the following in each category:

• Steps I need to take to reach my goal
• Who else might be involved
• By when I want to accomplish this goal

Engage in other soothing activities such as photography, dance, meditation, and nature walks that make you feel relaxed and provide comfort.

What will you do now as your livelihood has been disrupted? What are your options?

Here are some helpful suggestions:

1. Explore your life purpose and/or attend a local career center. Work with a career coach or speak with an employment counselor to help you tweak your resume and/or attend classes on going back to work or exploring a new career.

2. Start your own business. Research resources in starting your own business. Your local community college may offer continuing education classes either online or in person. Your local library may have information about online programs for possible career exploration and/or training.
3. Attend a support group for people looking for a new job. Your local workforce development office may have information on their website.
4. Figure out how to answer questions about your last employer. What’s OK and not OK to share?

Self-reflect:

1. What did you learn about yourself from each step? Did you feel empowered during a specific step? If so, how?
2. What step would you like to review and/or continue discussing?
3. What takeaways can you use to make you more self-aware when you feel triggered?
4. Are you interested in seeing a therapist?

The Art of Extreme Self-Care. (2009). Cheryl Richardson. 

Berger, S. Five Ways We Grieve. (2011). Trumpeter Press.

Dare to Lead: Brene Brown. (2018). UK: Penguin Random House. 

Daring Greatly: Brene Brown. (2012). New York: Penguin Random House.

Emotional Freedom: Judith Orloff. (2019). Harmony Publishers. 

Why People Don't Heal and How They Can. Caroline Myss. (1998). Harmony Press.