Vaughn Guenter, PhD
“Vaughn is my birth name and though my official title is Dr Guenter, a lot of the time I am called either Daring or Dad. I live on idyllic Tamborine Mountain in Queensland, Australia with my wife Elizabeth and our three teenage sons, attending the close-knit Tamborine Life Church.
“My academic credentials include certifications in stress management, Positive Psychology, Christian life coaching, nutrition, and fitness. This training, paired with my longstanding walk with the Lord, enables me to help you manage your stress from multiple angles, which greatly increases your chances of success.
“I consider myself to be a Christian who is also a Stress Management Coach rather than a Christian Stress Management Coach. Let me explain. While my faith is central to everything I do, I am not the type to immediately ‘spiritualise’ everything. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:46 ~ It is not the spiritual that comes first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. This is not to say the physical is more important but it comes first sequentially. Just as God created Adam and breathed life into him, I look at the physical, mental and environmental aspects of your stress before shifting the focus to your spiritual wellbeing.
“I should also make it clear I am not a super-Christian. I make no claim to be a conduit between you and God; channelling all the answers to your problems and challenges. Instead, I coach using my God-given gifts with His blessing upon me. My mission is to help you reduce your stress levels to the point where you are able to hear God's voice yourself. At this stage, my job is done.
“You are invited to book a time for an informal conversation about this process using the button below.
My journey from stressed to blessed
Like everyone, I have experienced various stressors in my life from divorce to financial pressure, work demands to social issues, health problems to exams. Among these life stresses, two events stand out: the death of our daughter in 2004 and a major health scare in 2015. Unsurprisingly, the two were related.
Mary Elizabeth was stillborn at full term. This hit me (and my faith) hard and I internalised my grief so as not to burden my wife in her time of sorrow. Although we were soon blessed with three healthy children, I ‘manfully’ carried our expanding family on my shoulders. This continued for over a decade until my shoulders gave out…literally. The first sign was a bone spur on my left AC joint. Soon, another appeared on my elbow. My body was laying down bone to cope with the physical demands I had placed on my joints. My middle aged frame was no longer capable of handling the loads of my youth.
Shortly afterwards, I started waking up with the last three fingers on my left hand cramping. This was quickly joined by constant tingling and tightness in my right hand, which then spread down to my feet. I was tested for stroke and carpal tunnel syndrome before being given a full spinal/brain MRI scan to see if I had multiple sclerosis. All tests came back negative. Despite being pigeonholed as another medical mystery, I am convinced my neuropathy was caused by cumulative stress.
My coping mechanism to that point had always been intense exercise. Smashing out a workout releases a cocktail of feel-good hormones and I was a junkie with a healthy obsession. Now this option was no longer available to me, I struggled and quickly fell into a deep depression. This is when I started searching for other ways to deal with my stress and discovered Positive Psychology - especially the practices of mindfulness, gratitude, resilience, optimism, self-compassion, fostering social connections, finding meaning and purpose, exploring the mind-body connection, and exercising my signature strengths.
This took me out of the darkness but a number of relapses showed me I needed something more to stay in the light. Just as good health is more than just the absence of sickness, I knew there was an element missing in sustaining my mental health. I found the answer in God. After a long period in the Christian wilderness, I returned to my faith and immediately experienced longer periods of mental and emotional stability. Like all of us, I am still very much a work in progress but I know the closer I walk to the Lord, the more consistent I am in applying both the principles of Positive Psychology and Christian spiritual practices, and the better my life goes.
Now I have successfully tamed my stress (for the most part), I am able to look outside myself and help others in a similar situation. These days, my neuropathy has all but disappeared (only surfacing in times of great stress) and I am pursuing a rewarding career in stress management solutions for Christian men. It would be my privilege to help you turn your life around and enjoy it to the fullest.
Qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy - The University of Auckland
Sleep, Stress Management & Recovery Coach - Precision Nutrition
Positive Psychology Master Coach - Life Success Academy
Life Coaching Practitioner - Health and Harmony Colleges
Christian Coach - accredited by the International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine
Authentic Happiness Life Coach - Life Success Academy
Nutrition Coach - Precision Nutrition
Certificates III & IV in Fitness - OnFit Training College
Online Personal Trainer (OTA1)
Workplace Mental Health - OnFit Training College
Approved Modalities (IICT)
Stress Management
Positive Psychology
Life Coaching
Health and Nutrition Coaching
Personal Training (Fitness)
Contact Me
Drop me a message if you would like clarification on any of the information I have shared or just to say hello! If you would like to schedule an informal conversation with me click here.
