Harper CS

About Me

I'm a life coach working at the intersection of nervous system science, somatic practice, and contemplative philosophy. My background is in biomedical science and public health, which means I tend to approach the human experience the way a scientist approaches a complex system: with curiosity and rigor.

Most of the people I work with are self-aware, high-functioning, and highly intelligent. What distinguishes the people I work with best is that they see the incongruence between how they want to live and how they are living. They recognize the gap between their own understanding of a life well-lived and their lived experience of it. Sometimes this feels like the mind betraying itself. It begs for one thing only to actually do another. It's a frustrating place to be, and one that you don't have to figure out alone.

I am not a guru, and the people who come to me aren't looking for one. They don't want someone who claims to have all the answers. They want someone who is genuinely searching too. Consider me the philosopher next door: someone who endlessly examines the nature and quality of her own life, and actually does something about it. My intellectual superpower is verbal reasoning, which in practice means that I can hear the difference between your perceived reality and the reality you want to live in, and help you close that gap.

People find their way to me through different doors. Some come to me for relationship help. They experience patterns that keep repeating, intimacy that feels off, or a partnership that's just gone flat in a way that's hard to name. Some come to me for support with dating. Something in how they show up keeps getting in the way of the connection they actually want.

Some come to me in pursuit of meaning. The person who has built a good life and finds it hollow. The person who is successful by every external measure and privately wonders if this is all there is. The person who chronically feels a gap between their internal world and their external one.

If any of this sounds like you, reach out. We'll figure out together whether it's a good fit.

Coaching with me

Results & Goals

The goal of this work is not transformation as a concept. It is the lived experience of being less at war with yourself. Clients who work with me tend to notice a few things over time: they stop being surprised by their own reactions. They find that the gap between what they know and what they feel begins to close. Relationships that felt stuck start to move. Patterns that seemed permanent turn out to be habits. The hollowness that persisted despite every external success begins to have a name, and then a direction.

I don't promise a fixed outcome because I don't think that's honest. What I can tell you is that people who do this work seriously tend to feel more like themselves.

The most common thing I hear from clients after a few sessions is some variation of: I've never said that out loud before. That's usually where the real work begins.

How I like to coach

I work by phone, one on one. No video. This is deliberate. The moment you're aware of being seen, part of you starts managing that. The phone removes that layer. You stop monitoring how you look and start paying attention to what you actually feel. In my experience the conversations go somewhere they wouldn't otherwise.

I don't run a scripted program. I have a framework and I use it, but what happens in a session follows you, not an agenda. I ask questions that are probably more direct than you're used to. I will name things I notice. I will follow the thing you almost said but didn't. I am not interested in the polished version of your situation.

Between sessions I assign something simple and specific to carry into the week. A practice, a prompt, a small behavioral experiment. The work that happens between sessions is where most of the change actually occurs. Sessions are where you see things differently. The rest of your life is where that difference lands.

I work with a small number of clients at a time. This kind of work requires genuine attention, and I'm not interested in offering anything less than that.

Offerings

Coaching

I offer one-on-one coaching remotely by phone. All ongoing work begins with a free 15-minute discovery call where we figure out whether the way I work is actually the right fit for where you're going.

Introduction Session: A 90-minute deep-dive for new clients. We map where you are, identify what's actually at stake underneath the surface, and build a clear picture of what the work could look like. Standalone or as the entry point into an ongoing package.

Single Session: A 60-minute session for returning clients with a specific question, or for anyone who wants to get a feel for the work before committing to a package. Some clients use this format for ongoing support as needs arise.

6-Session Package: A complete arc. Six sessions, typically one per week. Includes ongoing async support between sessions via text or email. This is where the real work happens. Sixty minutes per session.

All clients sign a coaching agreement before we begin. Sessions are confidential with the standard exceptions required by law.

Experience, Certifications & Training

Certifications and Degrees

• Master's in Biomedical Science
• Bachelor's in Public Health

Professional and life experience

My formal background is in biomedical science and public health. I think in systems, mechanisms, and evidence. That training shapes how I approach the human experience: not as a collection of problems to be solved, but as an adaptive, intelligent system responding to the environments it has been placed in.

Alongside that, I have spent years in somatic and movement practice. The body has been a consistent teacher. What I have learned from working with my own nervous system, and from sitting with people in their most honest moments, has informed this work at least as much as anything I have studied formally.

I have also lived close to the territory I work in. My understanding of desire, intimacy, shame, and the gap between how people present and how they actually feel did not come from a textbook. It came from paying close attention to my own life and the lives of the people around me for a long time. That is the experience I bring into the room.

I am currently deepening my study in nonviolent communication, polyvagal theory, somatic experiencing, attachment science, neuro-linguistic programming, brainspotting, and contemplative philosophy across Zen and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. I approach my own development the way I approach my clients: there is no arrival. The work continues.

Fee description

Free discovery call — 15 minutes

Introduction session — $250 / 90 minutes

Single session — $200 / 60 minutes

6-session package — $950 / 60 minutes per session, includes async support between sessions