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With a TV show under development, a contract to write a monthly column for a national magazine, a book on the back burner and a busy psychotherapy practice specializing in sex and couples therapy, Duncan’s own Dr. Cheryl Fraser is about to make a very big splash into the public consciousnesses.
“I want to become the Canadian Oprah,” she said.
Known as the Passion Doctor, the Jung, er, young at heart 42-year-old clinical psychologist is sought after for her advice on love, sex and dating.
But the woman with the high aspirations said she comes from humble beginnings.
Her parents met at Cowichan High and both sets of grandparents lived here.
“I was born here in the Duncan Hospital,” she said. “My roots go way back in the Valley and that’s something I’m proud of.”
She attended Queen Margaret’s, because she wanted the horse riding, before moving on to Malaspina University-College for one year then heading to the University of Victoria.
In 1990 she went to Simon Fraser University where she obtained her master’s degree.
Her studies took to her to San Francisco (she actually turned down an offer to attend Harvard) because it was the leading place for sexuality training.
Fraser also traveled Asia for a bit where she was involved in several retreats before she set up shop in downtown Vancouver in 1998. She moved back to Duncan in 2002.
“I got tired of the city and I like the lifestyle here,” she said. “Duncan was a great place to flee at age 17 and, in my mid-thirties, it was a great place to come back to.”
To say this vivacious doc is busy is an understatement.
She is in the planning stages of developing a TV show for women and the various relationships in their lives.
She will be an inaugural and regular columnist in a new national magazine called Parents Canada, which is set to debut in the spring.
As well, she’s working on a book which will be a companion to her lectures, dubbed the Become Passion relationship workshops.
“Ultimately, I want a Canada-wide show like Oprah’s where I’ll cover a wide variety of topics,” Fraser said.
Some might ask why the doc is doing all this at this point in her life, but the truth is her life has been leading to this moment.
“At this time in my life I really know what I’m talking about,” she said.
Plus, she loves being in front of a crowd.
“The idea of being in a room with hundreds of people; there’s the entertainment factor and the emotional intensity,” Fraser said.
“I can teach a technique in group and you can take that and apply it to your own life story with proven techniques, these really work.”
Part of Fraser’s technique involves shattering a few myths — including one of the biggest held by those seeking love.
“There is no such thing as a soul mate, thinking that out there is the perfect person who is going to make my life complete.
“It’s a mind frick,” she said. “People go through their lives looking for such a person and if it doesn’t work out they move on and find another ‘soul mate.’”
Not surprisingly, Fraser does a lot of work with couples and singles, but is slowly getting out of private sessions as her speaking tour dates fill the calendar.
Those are the venues where Fraser promises to show how to cultivate “deep, connected, sizzling” relationships that last a lifetime.
“After 60 years of marriage, my granddad’s eyes would still light up when my grandmother came into the room,” she said. “That thrill can be cultivated.”
But it doesn’t come by accident, Fraser warned.
“You have to work at it, but it can be fun work, like a hobby.”
Fraser’s next seminar will be held in Nanaimo Jan. 11, at the Dorchester Hotel, 70 Church St.
Those interested in attending should hurry to do so — both Victoria workshops held last month were packed to capacity.
Register by logging on at www.becomepassion.com or call 250 893-5683.
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