MEET CHELSEA
MEET CHELSEA
Growing up, I was a pressure cooker of emotions with no release valve.
Just ask my parents.
In my family, we come from a long line of emotional suppressors where only light emotions have a place at the table. Think: happiness, joy, and laughter. All of the heavy emotions? Those were meant to be bottled up, and forgotten.
But here’s the thing—I couldn’t forget about the heavy emotions. I felt like The Hulk, full of unexpressed anger and confusion with no way to let it out productively…only explosively.
I became an expert at plastering on a smile while doing mental gymnastics to suppress anything heavy, then unleashing The Hulk in the comfort of my own home.
After years of this emotional rollercoaster, I became an adult with workaholic tendencies, pedestalling myself against others, creating co-dependent relationships, and connecting with others primarily through suffering. Sounds like a dream, right?
I also developed a pattern of throwing myself into situations just to prove I could do things people said I couldn’t. Building things out of spite was my go-to.
It all came to a head when I was 26. Two major friendship fallouts and a high-stress job (creating a pumpkin festival) pushed me to my breaking point.
To "fix" myself, I became certified in the Integrated Processing Technique (IPT). This technique uses guided visualizations to go to when a traumatic event occurred to rewrite our perceptions and beliefs around the event.
During this program, I tried overanalyzing my way to healing.
I dove headfirst into trying to rewrite every single perception and experience from my past. I truly thought that if I could understand why I was the way I was, I’d finally feel whole.
It was a temporary release, but weeks later, I’d still feel shitty. Sometimes even more shitty than before.
At the end of the certification program, we went to a ropes course. I’ll never forget standing on top of a 30-foot Pamper Pole (I’m incredibly scared of heights, but was determined to do this).
When everyone in the class climbed to the top of the pole, and before jumping off the pole as a “leap of faith,” we had to scream out what we wanted.
“I just want inner peace!”
Even at the end of a year-long course designed to help me feel more balanced, healed, and whole, I still felt like shit on the inside.
After graduating, I started working with more and more people. This is when I noticed my clients were becoming dependent on me for their emotional processing.
It felt icky, and was so far from what I thought would happen when someone took healing seriously. So, I was determined to find what was missing for me and my clients. Why were we so disconnected, more victimized, and inflicting our sense of self, the more we tried going back and rewriting our perceptions of the past?
The breakthrough came when I finally learned this truth: Our bodies want to be whole and complete, AND they already know what we need.
All we have to do is listen and learn how to label how emotions feel in our bodies.
And, I realized you can learn how to do this through intuitive coloring.
The more I colored with myself and others, the more I realized why coloring works: It bypasses your analytical mind and helps you see things with clarity. You start noticing how you actually feel emotions in your body and uncover what mental models are keeping you stuck without years of therapy or blaming everyone else for your problems.
Coloring isn't about shaming yourself or pointing fingers. It's about getting to know yourself on such a deep level that no matter what you feel, you can find your way back to balance and inner peace.
After 6 years of testing and iterating with hundreds of people, Color Mending was born.
Whether you're struggling with burnout, feeling stuck in patterns, or just ready to understand yourself better, I'm here to show you how all emotions—even the heavy, big, and scary ones—can be your greatest teacher.
Trust me, if this former emotional pressure cooker who spent years overanalyzing everything can learn to identify emotions, understand the stories I'm telling myself, and find regulation strategies through coloring, anyone can.