Who am I?
After having my two sweet girls, Billie and Rosie, I enrolled at Cape Breton University to pursue my passion and graduated in 2018 with an Honors Degree in Psychology. Completing a degree while parenting gently was a challenge. The truth is, having children is the quickest way to highlight our own inner struggles.
With the first three years of life being the most critical, and through facing my own personal struggles with parenting, I could see there was a need for a more proactive approach to parenting. I just wasn’t sure how that could look. Over time and through the process of uncovering my own mental health issues, I came across Dr. Shefali’s Online Conscious Parenting Coaching Institute. After reading her book The Conscious Parent and completing her Conscious Parenting course, I graduated in March 2022 with my certification in Conscious Parenting Coaching Methods™.
As a coach of CP practices, I want to change the narrative around parenting that is based in fear and shame. By acting as a guide through the difficult process of uncovering and deconstructing unconscious beliefs, I hope to give people the skills to parent in a way that is non-judgmental, non-punitive, and non-reactive. This is not permissive parenting, where the child runs the show. This is a parenting style that is neuro-scientifically supported, and based in self-compassion and intentionality, where both parent and child can be empowered to develop healthy behaviours and long-lasting connections.
What is conscious parenting?
Conscious Parenting (CP) is a non-traditional approach to parenting. It embodies many different therapeutic approaches and is based on modern neuroscience, traditional western psychological modalities, as well as Eastern mindfulness practices.
Conscious Parenting has the ability to heal the parent-child relationship or create a healthy connection-based relationship from the ground up. It does not aim to control the child but instead focuses on supporting the child’s wellbeing and promoting the child’s authenticity. This shift in focus requires the parent to look beyond their child’s behaviour and be attuned to their child’s needs.
Before a parent can be fully attuned to the needs of their child, they need to be aware of their own needs and how it impacts their parenting style. Conscious Parenting, therefore, involves an awareness and deconstruction of the unconscious belief systems that influence your parenting. This deconstruction is the process of identifying and reframing unhelpful or untrue thought patterns ingrained in the brain as defence mechanisms.
Coaching in Conscious Parenting provides tools and strategies that allow you to regulate your reactions and emotions over time. These tools include:
- Learning how to recognize and label your feelings
- Stopping the shaming thought cycles that occur when you feel like you’ve messed up
- Pausing instead of reacting to stressful parenting situations
