Celiac Counsellor’s Corner – A New Addition to The Celiac Scene

Thank you, Celiac Disease! 

Does this gratitude seem like a stretch to you? Let’s work on it together!  

Welcome to Celiac Counsellor’s Corner!* At The Celiac Scene, we know how challenging it is to live with celiac disease. That’s why we’ve created The Counsellor’s Corner, a place where we talk about the emotional and social issues that celiacs face. Having celiac disease can feel like a losing battle. Our counsellor is here to help you make the best of it. What can your best be like?

“Celiac disease and the gluten-free diet can bring out anger, disappointment and fear.  It can push us to our limit. What would it be like for us to accept it? What is it trying to teach us?”


Sherry Scheideman Counselour

Sherry Scheideman, M.A., Registered Clinical Counsellor

These are the questions that Sherry Scheideman, M.A., Registered Clinical Counsellor invites us to consider. Diagnosed with celiac disease herself in 2001 in Victoria, BC, Sherry draws upon personal experiences and a Master’s Degree in Counseling to support you in transcending this ‘life transition’ and turning it into an opportunity to live your best life – ever!

“Life happens! Why not love it?”

“Being diagnosed with celiac disease and going gluten-free has challenged me to develop inner resources that I never knew I had, and I’m grateful for that. As a counsellor, I love to help other celiacs find their own gifts within the challenges of the disease, and to facilitate healing. Why not let your celiac disease motivate you to be your best self?”


Over the coming months, Sherry will be writing about the issues that we as celiacs face in a column we are calling,  Celiac Counsellor’s Corner. The following topics – and more – will be addressed:

  • blaming ourselves or feeling guilty for having the disease
  • feeling frustrated and sad about all the food we can’t have anymore
  • facing social, familial, and workplace difficulties because we can’t eat what everyone else is having
  • being afraid we might not be able to get anything safe to eat when we’re out
  • having to ask endless questions about food to make sure we can eat it
  • having to endlessly refuse offerings of food in order to stay safe
  • occasionally getting “glutened” and then enduring not only the illness but possibly also the blame from ourselves
  • how to handle gluten-free shaming

sherry.scheideman MC, RCC

In her articles, Sherry will examine how we can feel like victims as we face the issues that celiac disease presents — and then will explore how these issues give us the opportunity to become our best selves as we rise to meet their challenges. We may find that we can even be grateful to celiac disease for giving us the challenges we need.

  • As Pema Chodron notes, “When we reach our limit, a hardness in us will dissolve. We will be softened by the sheer force of whatever energy arises – the energy of anger, the energy of disappointment, the energy of fear. That very energy pierces us to the heart, and it opens us. Reaching our limit is like finding a doorway to sanity and the unconditional goodness of humanity.”



  • *Information and perspectives provided in Celiac Counsellor’s Corner are intended to provide general information, without independent verification on the part of The Celiac Scene of the accuracy of the information provided to it, and the information is specifically not intended to be a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by your physician or other health care professional. You should always consult your own physician or other health care professionals about any medical questions, diagnosis, or treatment, especially before trying any diet. The Celiac Counsellor’s Corner does not accept any liability for any injury, loss or damage incurred by use of or reliance on any content contained herein.