Jaqueline Benndorf
I was born in Uruguay 65 years ago and have lived in New Zealand since 1981. I love deeply my country of adoption.
Since a very young age I seemed to look after sick animals and felt moved by poverty and unfairness to such an extent that my mother wrote in her journal about me, “Jaqueline is bound to marry a clergyman and devote herself to helping others when she grows up.” Well, I did not marry a clergyman but have devoted my life to helping, supporting and encouraging others.
I have worked in the areas of refugee support (Geneva), violence and abuse of women and children, trauma, grief, started the NZ Aids Foundation in Wellington, and ran numerous workshops on dealing with and transforming ourselves for life’s challenges.
In my personal life, like most of us, I have lived through a number of extreme emotional and physical difficulties. Trained as a psychotherapist (1995), I felt over the years that somehow this was not enough for my personal journey and discovered Neuroplasticity, or the ability of the brain to be changed/rewired and adapt, no matter what the age, to feel a greater sense of happiness and peace with however our lives are at present. I did two professional trainings with Rick Hanson, Ph.D. in “Positive Neuroplasticity” and apply the approach to myself, producing some outstanding and lasting changes.
Because I have had the profound experience of the direct application of these techniques and tools, resulting in complete changes in my life over the last few years, my colleague and friend, Adrian Lumsden, and I want to share this practice through the Ageing Well workshop.
It is NEVER too late to change, and emotional health is as important as physical health in really supporting a better quality of life.
Adrian Lumsden
I was born in the UK 66 years ago and moved to New Zealand in 2001, arriving on a glorious winter solstice day. I feel great gratitude for being able to create and make a home and life for myself here.
When I was nine I was completely fascinated by the range of forms and adaptations that invertebrate animals show to the challenges and demands of life. I decided, while on holiday with my face in a rock pool on the beach, that I wanted to be a marine biologist. That vision sustained me through my teens and early twenties as I worked towards a degree in marine biology (at Liverpool), followed by a PhD and post-doctoral research on the west coast of Scotland.
A big speed bump, in the form of a word-wide recession, big cuts in government research funding and no availability of employment for a budding research scientist, hit my dreams hard. I adapted by using the programming skills that I had taught myself and stepped sideways into working in IT in the environmental monitoring area. I ended up operating a consulting company working in real-time systems such as nuclear reactor control, air-traffic control and other industrial systems. I was involved in a lot of troubleshooting on projects that were in difficulties and, through that, came to realise that I was a natural mediator. It became obvious to me that many of the ‘technical’ problems that I was called in to work on were actually relationship problems between the organisation’s teams. Many of the ‘technical’ issues became much easier to solve once we had everybody pointing in the same direction and working on a solution rather than blaming each other.
I eventually did formal training in counselling and as a mediator, working in community mediation and neighbourhood dispute resolution for one of the Nottingham local councils. I found wonderful satisfaction in being able to help people who had not spoken to each other for perhaps 10 or 20 years, find a way of reconciling their differences and to be able to live alongside each other with respect and in peace.
There have been episodes in my life where things have been extremely challenging. Like many people, I have had to face loss, grief, separation, ill health and depression. I have been fortunate that, along the way, I have met some wonderful people who have shared and given their time and who have supported me in making a difference to my life.
My background as a physiologist has helped me understand how we can hack our own brains in all sorts of different, interesting ways to produce beneficial outcomes for ourselves. For example, how we can use the fact that our brain is wired to feel good in response to a smile, even our own smile in a mirror, as a treatment for depression. I have loved working in the fertile crossover area of brain functioning and awareness of feelings and responses, and how we can tap into those to live happier, more contented lives. Developing the Ageing Well workshop with Jaqueline has been a delight and I am looking forward to sharing it with you.
Testimonials
Jaqueline offered to coach/mentor me when I first landed a GM role in a medium sized NGO in 2012. Jaqueline has a therapeutic approach to her coaching with the right balance of development and self care techniques. Her practical ideas and warm sense of humour make her easy to engage with.
~ Kerry L.
Jaqueline is an amazing coach and mentor. She has a special gift that somehow enables her to pinpoint quickly and accurately what is really going on. At the same time she has a warmth and caring energy that gently holds a beautiful space to explore anything that comes up. I highly recommend her to anyone considering a mentor that will compassionately challenge them and allow them to grow.
~ Heather H.
We invited Jaqueline to run a series of workshops for our small NGO. Her warmth, skills, and ability to create a collaborative and inspiring environment benefitted greatly the culture of our organisation. We have seen an ongoing growth and improved wellbeing in the organisation. We highly recommend her as a workshop facilitator.
~ Richard R.
I could count on one hand the exceptional coaches I have worked with over the years who have what I call the X-Factor. Jaqueline is one of these people. She has the extraordinary ability to help awaken the “Compassionate Observer” within each of us so we develop the ability to guide ourselves through the trials of life. He pukenga tō Jaqueline ki te whakatau ngākau kōnatunatu. He pukenga hoki ki te whakaoho i te Mataara-o-Roto. Kei a ia te mana o te mahi hohou rongo.
~ Ron N. Ph.D.
I have known Adrian since 2009. Since our first encounter, Adrian has provided a safe space where judgments and demands were not present. His gentle, non-threatening approach to life allowed me to make shifts I had been, up to then, struggling to make. Because of Adrian, I am a happier and mentally healthier person.
~ Tammy L.
Adrian is by nature a remarkably warm, intuitive, and compassionate human being. While his education and much of his career involved the hard sciences, such as marine biology and computer science, in recent years he has focused on issues involving people interaction. You will have a great deal of fun in your interaction with Adrian, and you will come away having learned a lot of useful approaches and tools to improve your interpersonal and intrapersonal life.
~ Brenda B. Bary, Licensed Clinical Psychologist.
Find out more about our Workshops.