About Dr. Menard

Let’s face it: change is hard. It’s so hard that when marketing experts heard the title of my upcoming book (hint: it includes the word “change”) they insisted on removing that dreaded word. Why? Apparently, the readers of the world are so frightened of change that a mere glance at the word will send them running – in the opposite direction!

Unfortunately, the capacity to change is required to survive and thrive.

While I can’t say the word scares me, I will say that I’ve always found change challenging. I apparently came programmed to make change “kicking and screaming.” Unfortunately, I also came programmed to bore easily, so continual change is a requirement for my life satisfaction. Quite a conundrum!

I also wasn’t blessed with an ideal childhood, and needed the skills to initiate change – to change my circumstances for the better. I really needed to work this out for myself. And so started a life-long quest to learn to change effectively. Along the way, I’ve seen a lot of what works and what doesn’t work, and I’ve developed a repertoire of strategies for change that really work.

My primary passion is now helping people navigate change with relative ease and grace. To my mind, that’s the ultimate empowerment. The rate of change that’s imposed on us – like it or not – in this fast moving cyber world, is a force to be reckoned with. If you can’t manage imposed change well, you’re simply unlikely to rise to your full potential

I consider it a privilege to collaborate with my clients in navigating transition, coping with imposed change, and initiating change by choice.

You may be dealing with

• personal issues (such as weight loss, anxiety, or depression) or
• professional issues (such as coping with the responsibilities of running or owning a business) or
• integrating work with a personal life.

In any case, I’m honored to help you work, live, love, feel, and look better  by taking charge of your stressors, weight, and mood. It’s the ability to transform problem thoughts and behaviors into constructive choices that will get you where you want to go. And it’s my delight to teach the most powerful strategies for change. 

If you’re an overwhelmed, overcommitted, or overweight high achiever, I’m here to teach you to get unstuck, take control, and regain “flow.”

If you want to know more about my career and training, you can get the details here.

Also for the curious…

More about me and my professional path…

So, the  quick rundown on me…

I’ve followed a winding path that, oddly, all comes together. I started my career as a musician and quickly decided that the “starving artist” lifestyle was a lot more romantic in theory than reality. Since I had a newfound respect for security and stability, I completed a sensible undergraduate degree in Computer Science and became first a computer programmer, then a project manager and, finally, my company’s representative to the International Standards Organization (ISO). Change a-plenty, but I wasn’t done yet.

Volunteering as a counselor at a battered woman’s shelter, I became enamored with the work, committed to helping people cope with trauma, and amazed by human resilience. Off I went to graduate school, completing my PhD in Clinical Psychology with specialties in trauma treatment, neuropsychology, and health psychology. Later, I picked up specialties in stress and weight management, and began to teach mindfulness and meditation. Oh, and I also started a business consulting firm, making use of my hi-tech and business background. To complete the circle, my musical side comes into play a lot, working with “creatives” – entrepreneurs and executives in the arts.

Somewhere around 500 BC,  the Greek professor Heraclitis said, “The only constant in life is change.” Apparently, I’m living proof. And think about this: a few things have happened to make the world spin faster (so to speak) since 500 BC. None of us really have a choice. The motto of our age is: evolve or die. I have, I do, and I want to help you do the same.