About Kristea of Hot Cuppa Connections

I’m Kristea (she/her, bi). My real name is Kristy, but I can’t resist a good (or bad!) pun. I love coffee and tea – so comforting, right?

I’m an empathic counsellor-in-training currently completing my Master’s in Counselling Psychology and creator of Hot Cuppa Connections: your place to learn about yourself and how to connect. I used to work as a system optimization specialist, supervisor, and course designer/instructional trainer. I’m also a writer and editor. I’m good at finding patterns or options other people miss, and rearranging information to be useful without losing the emotional factors of a process.

I love working with people, helping them get to know themselves. Which is something that would shock my 10-year-old, 16-year-old, and even my 25-year-old self. I was the writer that swore no book tours when I got famous and had picked a list of possible pseudonyms. I was the prompter in Drama who had memorized the entire script and loved the emotion of theatre but did not want to be on stage again if I could help it, thank you. I was the quiet office worker who became a trainer accidentally through “other duties as assigned” because I knew everyone’s jobs in the department and every nook and cranny of the company’s systems, but dreaded instructing days and “left feelings at home”. I didn’t know who I was. I spent a lifetime working to fit in without giving a thought to my own authenticity aside from hiding it, and that made being around other people draining and overwhelming.

But I love people, and am fascinated by identity. I majored in psychology during my undergrad because I found out I had taken enough psychology electives to already meet the requirements. I’ve taken every communication and conflict resolution workshop I could find. I learned public speaking skills so I could help others (even if that started with teaching staff how to use company expense report software). I have mental health first aid training, and copious experience and research on mental wellness. I make everyone I know take the new personality test I found online (science-backed or bogus because, why not?). I’m the friend friends come to when they’re struggling, because they know I won’t judge them and will be able to help them through their feelings with support, information, and empathy. I’ve developed the skills I need to be able to enjoy other people without minimizing myself, and I want to share them.

I do this work to help you get to know yourself, your feelings, and your needs, because I was there too. I firmly believe the people best equipped to help or teach are those that had to struggle to pick up their skills and find themselves, because we know how hard it is. I’ve learned to feel comfortable in my own skin. I want you to feel that, too.

So, let’s have a cup of tea and talk.