About Antonella
Welcome to Wisdom for Women. I'm Antonella, a Holistic Empowerment Self-Defence Coach and Instructor.
Honour your inner truth, live authentically and with agency over your own choices.
Since 1996 Wing Chun Martial Artist
Since 2001 Behavioural Therapist
Since 2012 Conflict Resolution Mediator
Since 2013 Personal Development Coach
Since 2018 ESD Instructor
Antonella Spatola is a globally recognised expert in Empowerment Self Defence, with over 20 years of dedicated experience advocating for trauma-informed learning that combines self-defence, personality profiling, and violence prevention.
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As founder and lead instructor of Wisdom For Women and founder of the charity True To You, she trains community leaders worldwide to deliver the ESD framework in their own communities, empowering women, children, and vulnerable groups.
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With a B.A. in Psychology, Antonella is a certified ESD train-the-trainer, credentialed ESD Professional (Association of ESD Professionals), Wing Chun Kung Fu instructor, Enneagram practitioner, conflict resolution mediator, mentor, coach, and behavioural therapist specialising in neurodiverse individuals.
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Her unique, holistic programs—blending ancient wisdom with modern psychology—have been taught to women leaders across Asia and officially accepted by institutions including the Department of Education in the Philippines, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Youth, and Spirit and Movement in Thailand.
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Passionate about individual transformation, Antonella connects authentically with people from all backgrounds, guiding them toward self-discovery, confidence, and resilience. She mentors ESD graduates and builds a global network of change agents committed to preventing violence and cultivating empowerment.
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Antonella Spatola leads with unwavering dedication as a world leader in Empowerment Self Defence, inspiring lasting change worldwide.
Holistic empowerment integrates the wisdom of mind, body, and soul to reclaim your agency
From 2021, Antonella served as the Regional Manager for ESD Global Inc., servicing the Asia Pacific region for ESD Global. During this time, countless partnerships were formed with NGOs working in violence prevention.
Listen to Antonella here speaking to Sam from the Pebble in the Pod Podcast from the STOP DV Conference on Violence Prevention Education on a Global Scale.
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Drawing on her personal experience as an immigrant to Australia, Antonella had to navigate learning a new culture and a new language at 8 years old. Whilst her parents were providing for the family, they were also dealing with their own challenges as they assimilated into a new country.
Looking back now, Antonella recognises the importance of having strong role models who taught her to speak up and defend herself.
Antonella now teaches these skills to kids, women, and whoever wants to learn to support their journey and not become a victim of abuse.
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It has been a challenging journey to navigate a foreign culture. She was vulnerable and people took advantage of her innocence and lack of understanding. She did not understand what it meant to be assertive and set boundaries.
Over the years, through trial and error, investing in her education, personal development, and soul work, she has taught herself to speak up and is constantly learning more about herself. She prides herself on her integrity and ability to stand in her power.
With so many mixed messages and virtue-signalling of what mainstream and the rest of the conglomerates say, we are constantly navigating the muddy social rules of what it means to be authentically empowered and assertive, whilst being empathic and compassionate, knowing where our personal boundaries lie.
The more you practice boundary-setting, honour your needs, and learn about yourself, the more you can give yourself grace and the energy to keep learning and doing better.
And this is what Antonella works with you to achieve.
Let’s Work Together
Get in touch so we can start working together.
