Shay Gestal

Health Coach

Shay Gestal has a background in physical therapy, collegiate athletic coaching and Rolfing, and has been helping people with their health professionally for over ten years.

She has partnered with AISS to offer sessions to people working on the issue of AI safety. Shay aims to help optimize the physical/mental health, and thereby the overall capacity and productivity, of selected clients. 

Shay helps with lifestyle and behaviour modifications around:


Disclaimer: Shay is not a doctor, and sessions are not intended to diagnose, treat or prescribe for any condition. Shay works by leading, guiding, educating and supporting clients towards their individual health goals while providing resources and accountability to help along the way. Please reach out to Shay for more information.

Different coaches and styles will work differently well for different people. Shay might not be the right coach for you. This is why the fist 15 min session is free, so you can find out. 

To find other coaches and mental health professionals who are familiar with AI risk, check out:

The Effective Altruism Mental Health Navigator

Thanks to a grant, Shay was previously able to offer her services for free. However we have not been able find renewed funding, which is why currently only the intro session is free. After that clients have to pay normal normal coaching rates.

If you want to make Shay's services free again, you can donate here or reach out to us.

Testimonials

"I can't stress enough how useful Shay has been to me. In only a couple of sessions I have managed to go from completely freaking out to being able to think clearly about my life again. Shay truly cares and listens empathically, without losing sight of what is important and useful. Thinking out loud while having someone warm actively listen has been a game changer, especially as I do not feel judged about doing some crazy work on AI Safety. I feel incredibly lucky to have the privilege to get this service for free. If you have not yet signed up, what are you doing?"

"I've been suffering from fatigue and joint problems for about 2 years now. I've talked with other doctors but made almost no progress on the issue (and believe me I tried a lot) until I started working with Shay. While I'm still working toward full health, I think I now have a solid grasp of what's been going wrong and what to do about it.

Aside from just getting better, it's been really nice to be able to outsource much of my thinking about health issues to her so that I don't have to keep stressing about what's going wrong with my body and how to fix it"

"I've been working with Shay for several months now. She's been incredibly knowledgeable, patient, curious and dedicated to helping me work through my irritating chronic knee pain. I'd happily recommend working with her to anyone else."

Shay's joy consistently permeates my neurotic patterns. With her support, I show up much more emotionally nourished and available for many of the most important people in my life as I run a 12br conscious community home. The difference is palpable. 

Today, I ran a mock conversation with her practicing responding to the parts that I couldn't be with in myself.

Within a ten minute window, I heard the voices of my spurned lovers, exasperated business partners, and disappointed parents - all stating their final sentences to me as their hearts broke in different ways - I heard their voices come out of me. 

Instead of freeze and collapse like I've done in the past, Shay first allowed herself to be emotionally impacted, and then powerfully modeled how to dance with the patterns from an adult space. 

The color and compassion that has entered my life as a result of applying her work has just been invaluable. 

From all the future simulated healthier civilizations that get to have this training data from our lifelogged sessions, thank you. 

~Alton 

"Talking with Shay has been very helpful to me. She is intelligent and enthusiastic, keen on asking exactly those questions that bring clarity and end with clear implications for action. I also found that I can open up to her without any discomfort, which can be very important for understanding one's own driving factors.

I can recommend Shay's sessions without hesitation."

Shay has been a huge help while I've been taking time to explore my next career steps. She's helped me to reflect on my motivation, which is helping me feel more excited about the career paths I'm considering. She was very understanding of my uncertainties about working in AI Alignment e.g. it's a very abstract problem and it can be difficult to see tangible results. She supported my exploration of alternative career paths, which has helped me feel happier and more excited about how I can make the world a better place. I would highly recommend working with Shay to anyone, and I think it's incredible that her support is available for free!

~David King -  Software Engineer / Operations Manager