I trust that positive interactions between an adult and child set the stage for a lifetime of social interaction, mental wellness, meaningful human experience. Establishing connected relationships with attuned adults supports children in developing essential life skills and navigating this world with resilience and meaning. My parent coaching approach is based on:
- Prioritizing connection and mutual respect between caregiver, child, and the greater community
- Ensuring children and adults meet their needs to support growth, development and optimal wellness
- Guiding families in becoming competent, well informed consumers
- Experiential learning: allows caregivers to actively engage in learning to gain knowledge and skills by doing. Active learning helps us better understand personal and social development and human connection.
Credit: https://julianstodd.wordpress.com/
While there is no family dynamic that works for all families, there is an authentic style that can work for yours. I help families come together so that life is more enjoyable and both minds and bodies are nourished.
Furthermore….
I believe all humans deserve access to nourishing food and medical care that elevates their sovereignty. The U.S. food and healthcare systems are designed to keep Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Fat Bodies and LGBTQIA+ humans marginalized. This system prioritizes profits at the expense of human wellness and must be radically modified.
I maintain that diet culture and oppressive healthcare systems are pervasive and toxic. They must be disrupted by professionals and consumers alike. I am an anti-diet, trauma informed, neurodivergent affirming care provider.
I know that Black, Indigenous, Immigrant and People of Color are currently underrepresented in both the Dietetics and Parenting Education professions. It is my responsibility to create space, practice anti-oppression, and amplify voices in order to shift this existing paradigm toward equity. Parenting practices and norms rooted in colonization are harmful.
I have come to understand that professionals who serve families – including Pediatricians, Dietitians, Mental Health Providers, Parenting Coaches and Educators – often receive inadequate training (and/or are resistant to such training) in active disruption of systemic racism, healthism and ableism through their work. Furthermore, providers are often ill equipped to guide parents in the trauma informed, neurodivergent affirming, responsive feeding practices necessary for the development of connectedness, food joy, eating competence, and body acceptance.
Through work and philanthropy, I advocate for a more just world. I acknowledge my privilege and the ways in which I benefit from existing systems. I honor my identities. I am not shy in using my positionality to amplify voices that are systemically silenced. Dismantling racist constructs and recognizing implicit bias in the American food system, nutrition, and parenting spheres permeate the many facets of my personal and professional work.
I live in the grandeur of the Pacific Northwest on Unceded Duwamish Territory east of Seattle with my neurodivergent kiddos and dogs.
When asked, “what do your do?”, I’m quick to reply, “I live every day to the best of my ability and seek joy along the way.” You’ll often find me reading, forest bathing, on a walk, riding my Peloton, at Zumba class, dancing while cleaning, sharing a meal with friends, and speaking in puns. I think we devalue one another when we ask people to define themselves by their occupation. Perhaps we can shift that narrative.
When asked, “How are you?”, I answer honestly in any given moment. It’s okay to not be okay and it is equally okay to be doing very, very well.
When asked, “What are your values?”, I reply, “Authenticity, Compassion for self and other, Integrity, Love, Joy, and Gratitude.” And, I reserve the right to change these as my own wisdom continually arises.
Credentials
Mom to 2e kids, Daughter, Sister, Aunt, Friend, Coparent, Empath.
Over twenty years of professional experience as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Parent Coach, Advocate for the Preservation of Childhood, Connecter of Dots, Parent Empowerer.
Formal Learning in summary:
- Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Language/International Affairs, University of Puget Sound
- Master of Science in Human Nutrition, Bastyr University
- Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
- Certified Positive Discipline Parenting Educator
- Certified Trauma Informed Specialist (Heart Strong International)
- Certified New Ways For Families® Online Coaching Provider
- Culture, Equity, Diversity, and Race (CEDAR) Intensive (credit: Rosie Mensah, RD)
- Inclusive Approaches to Supporting Neurodivergent Children with Feeding Challenges (Credit: Naureen Hunani, RD)
- Responsive Feeding and Emotionally Aware Feeding Advanced Training (Credit: Dr. Jo Cormack, Dr. Katja Rowell)
- Intuitive Eating Counselor (Credit: The Original Intuitive Eating Pros)
- Happily Family Parent Coach Training (Credit: Happily Family)