Heather Shaughnessy-Cato | Self-Compassion Coach

Feel more centered, resourced, at ease.

Coaching with Heather Shaughnessy-Cato

You’re capable. You’re thoughtful. And you’ve hit something hard.

Maybe it’s a role transition. A change in health, or life stage. A readiness to shift patterns like procrastination, self-criticism, or self-doubt. Or feeling tired of caring for everyone else while being hard on yourself.

That’s what coaching is for: the thorny problems that are hard to work through alone.

Coaching with me is a partnership — space to think and feel out loud, understand where you’re really stuck, and figure out what you can do — with intention.

Our work is about helping you find more clarity, soften self-criticism, see something in a new way, and take real steps forward. Many continue with coaching longer than they expected — because the support in a steady, trusting relationship is so helpful across stressors, goals, and changes.

What we might work on

Support through transitions
Stress and burnout
Self-criticism and doubt
Goals and getting unstuck
Finding steadiness in difficult moments
Realistic self-care

A practical, evidence-based approach

In my coaching, we often draw from self-compassion and mindfulness practices — research-backed skills that support meaningful change through awareness, understanding, and curiosity.

And we get practical. We try on new perspectives, explore tools, and experiment with them in your real life between sessions — customized to you, closing the gap between where you are and where you want to be, in a way that still feels like you.

Learn more about coaching options

About me

I’m Heather Shaughnessy-Cato — a coach with a foundation in self-compassion.

I’m a National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach and Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher, with a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

For more than a decade, my work has centered on helping people navigate change and difficulty — through counseling, coaching, teaching, and facilitation, with mindfulness and self-compassion woven throughout.

What my clients are saying:

“With your gentle and insightful guidance, I was able to shift some long-ingrained patterns of harsh self-judgment — and got so much more out of it than I could have possibly imagined.”
— Chris

“At the end of every call I felt seen and heard, and always walked away with some type of valuable ‘aha.’”
— Sam

“I was able to overcome a feeling of frustration and helplessness, which resulted in me feeling more creative again — writing more, building a newsletter and community, and getting a clearer sense of what actually matters to me.”
— Max