From Neurology Nurse to Fibromyalgia Coach

Her nursing career began in Neurology, where she specialized in Neurosurgery at the Montréal General Hospital in Québec and in Neurorehabilitation at the Shepherd Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries in Atlanta, Georgia. She also moved into nursing leadership, overseeing Medicine and Cardiovascular units.

 

From the very beginning, Gisèle approached her patients differently. She viewed each person as an individual on their own unique health journey — someone who deserved to be treated as the expert of their own life. She fostered trust, provided compassionate support, and prioritized patient education throughout every hospital stay. At the time, this kind of empowerment-focused, patient-centred care was considered a progressive approach in North American nursing. The results spoke for themselves: patients who felt informed and respected were more at ease, more engaged in their own recovery, and often healed faster.

 

A Personal Fibromyalgia Journey 

After a rewarding 12-year nursing career, Gisèle stepped back from the workforce to raise her four children alongside her husband and care for their aging mothers. During that season of life, she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, graduating Cum Laude. However, this is also during this period that her health began to decline — gradually at first, then significantly.

 

She navigated the all-too-familiar road that many of her clients know well: rounds of doctors, specialists, and tests, while quietly searching for answers through nutrition, exercise, medications, and complementary therapies. When she returned to the workforce, her health struggles only increased. Eventually, she received her diagnoses: Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS), Multiple Chemical and Environmental Sensitivities (MCS), and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).

 

For Gisèle, the diagnosis was both a relief and a turning point. Finally having a name for what she had been experiencing opened the door to working with health professionals who truly understood these invisible chronic illnesses. While rebuilding her health under their expert guidance, she also gained a depth of knowledge and personal insight that she would have never acquired otherwise.

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From Fibromyalgia Patient to Fibromyalgia Coach

Three years later, she emerged with meaningfully improved health — and a renewed sense of purpose. She has since reached remission from FMS, ME/CFS, and reversed the MCS. She pursued an ICF*-recognized dual certification in health and life coaching through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC), followed by certification as an IFCI** Fibromyalgia Advisor®. Each step felt like a natural extension of the healing work she had done on herself and the caregiving instincts she had carried throughout her nursing career.

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The most significant milestone came when she became a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach®, mentored by Tami Stackelhouse — CEO and Master Educator of the International Fibromyalgia Coaching Institute (IFCI). Gisèle holds the distinction of being North America's first Registered Nurse Certified Fibromyalgia Coach® and Canada's first bilingual (French) fibromyalgia coach. 

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