Truth and Inspiration

Issue: August 2023

Donna Clements

In an age of instant information, when libraries have turned whole rooms into computer stations, it’s reassuring to see patrons conversing with their neighbors, sharing ideas and resources.

Such was the case in June at the Cashiers Community Library when Branch Librarian Serenity Richards hosted a presentation by Trauma-Informed Certified Life Coach Donna Clements.

Richards sees her mission as “engaging with the community and trying to make sure our citizenry has what it needs.”

Clements talks about big subjects, things a lot of us avoid talking about like grief, depression, and shame. With brutal honesty, she talks about her struggles and rising above them.

Growing up in Virginia, she says that she “always knew something was wrong.”

In the spring of 2018, a solo spiritual sojourn to Israel, visiting friends living near Gaza, set her on a new course. It was the time of the Israel-Palestinian conflict and air strikes. The lingering trauma of being that close to the violence of the bombings moved her to a new realization. Because of that experience, she understood that as a child she had experienced parental betrayal.

Clements has always been someone others turn to for guidance and advice. Now, she decided to use her own life struggles to help others through life coaching.

“I had looked into life coaching before, but I thought I hadn’t suffered enough,” she told me. “When I moved to Highlands, I realized I had to do something good with this.”

She discovered the “trails in every direction” surrounding her house and began trekking. She completed a course in trauma-informed life coaching and became certified in the field. In combining her training with hiking, she says that she is “using what I have at my fingertips – nature – to help people find themselves and determine where they are going.”

While on the trail, Clements listens attentively to her clients, allowing them to share their feelings openly. She’s learned that talking about it is a large part of the solution. As a trauma-informed coach, she is asking her clients how to help. “Sometimes just asking a simple question, like ‘How so?’ opens a floodgate.”

On August 25 at 2:00 P.M., Clements will give a presentation at the Cashiers Library on “The Waterfall Effect of Human Behavior,” on how fundamental human behaviors affect your life and how you can use that knowledge to better your life and better your mental health. Attendees are advised to show up 10 to 15 minutes before the session to get a seat. You’ll find details at Fontanalib.org, calling (252) 326-9194, or by visiting donnaclements.com.

Donna also meets with clients off the trails virtually by Zoom, face-to-face sessions and telephone.