About
Our Mission
myPEAK Foundation aims to provide a therapeutic environment rich in compassion, community and adventure to help folks living with mental health challenges achieve their desired wellness by harnessing the healing powers of our oceans.
Our Vision
We hope to create safe spaces by the water for all people to find community, play, and heal. We envision folks from all backgrounds and walks of life learning to surf the waves of mental health and ride towards their peak wellness.
Our Story
When I was teenager, my world was always changing, and those times really challenged my mental health. I wrestled with depression, often feeling like no one could possibly understand the emotional battles that were taking place inside my mind. I felt lost. Surfing was my only outlet where I could go to find myself again. It was my medication. Every time I plunged into the ocean, I got a dose of mental clarity that allowed me to find myself again; to smile and laugh; to reconnect to the world around me; to re-orient myself to the possibilities of the future; to feel alive. My experiences as a teenager inspired my passion for empowering people to overcome their own mental health challenges and a passionate belief in the healing powers of being out on the water.
Fast forward 10 years - I am now a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) pursuing my dream to share the amazing sport of surfing with adolescents and young adults who are facing their own challenges with mental health. Surf therapy has been gaining a lot of traction as a promising therapeutic practice for a variety of mental health issues including depression, anxiety, trauma, and developmental disabilities.
There is an amazing community of mental health experts, who are also surfers, sharing surf therapy with their local communities across the globe!! This year we had the privilege of joining this community as a contributing member of the International Surf Therapy Organization (ISTO)! I am so stoked to be a part of bringing this work to our coastal community, and so thankful for everyone who has helped support us getting here. Our story is just beginning!! Yeww!
I have made my peace with some of the darkest parts of me through the ocean and I can accept them as a part of myself that isn't bad or good, it just is
Surf Therapy Stoker
