When I launched my business I was new to my area, having moved back to the US after many years abroad so I really started from zero in terms of visibility. I had no idea how to even begin getting connected to my new community. Adding to this difficulty was the fact that as a parent coach, there is limited awareness of my service. If I had a shingle outside the door that said ‘”barber,’” “chiropractor” or “couple’s counselor” people would know what I do but parent coaching as a field is not so well known. I bring years of experience and training to my service but this is not immediately evident in my title because coaching is not state regulated and some people practice coaching with only minimal training so people who have heard about it are sometimes skeptical or wary. The solution for me is to trust that once I have the opportunity to work directly with enough parents and they realize the power of the parent coaching process, my service will begin to speak for itself and word of mouth will let people know that when they come to me I can help them make significant change in their life and in their family in a relatively short period of time.

What has helped me begin to get connected has been to attend a variety of networks groups on a regular basis. I also got involved with local projects that interested me and related to my work in some way. This helped me connect with like-minded people. I became a member of the Advisory Board of The JNP Project (a self-esteem discovery moment for children) and I also joined as a volunteer tutor with the Anne Arundel County Literacy Council. In both these groups I have connected with people who share my personal and professional values and vision. I think it’s especially important for practitioners in private practice to have connections to other people who are working to serve the community as well as with other mental health practitioners. I’ve made some very good friends who are also in private practice as coaches and therapists and having their support has been invaluable. It is important to find your tribe and nurture those connections.

Getting licensed itself a great achievement and it definitely helps for establishing professional credibility. But it is a bit like a marriage certificate, it is just the beginning of the journey and it is important to continue to build skills, grow as a person and develop your professional services so that you are always giving your best. After I completed my masters in counseling, I had the privilege of working for a school that valued professional development for its staff. During my years as a school counselor, my school supported me to undertake trainings that increased my capacity to support the school community. I used this opportunity to follow specialized interests and develop my skills in ways that fit who I was and what I loved doing. There are hundreds of therapeutic approaches and areas one can work in as a counselor. I discovered that Solution-Focused Brief Therapy fit my belief system closely, so I undertook coursework to gain a Professional Specialization in Solution-Focused Practice. I also have a great affinity for transpersonal work and had the opportunity to train in Sandplay Therapy & Symbol Work. Over the years, I realized that my greatest satisfaction came from working with parents directly – rather than or in addition to supporting their child. I took advantage of whatever opportunities came my way to learn about different parenting frameworks (1-2-3 Magic, Love & Logic, Parent Effectiveness Training, The Virtues Project). One of the most amazing programs I participated in was a one-year intensive course in Parent Coaching offered by the Parent Coaching Institute. Pulling these all together also with my personal experience as the mother of four grown children, put me in an ideal position to offer highly specialized services in the field of Parent Coaching. I followed my bliss and now here I am, in private practice in an ideal position to live my dream and purpose.

For practitioners who are just starting out, I think the most important thing is to keep an eye out for continued opportunities to grow and learn about things of interest to you specifically. Over time, you will discover what speaks to your heart most dearly. Keep following that inner compass and developing your skills in areas you feel passionate about. The degree or license is just a door through which you pass to embark on a journey of discovery so that you can bring your special gifts to the world. The more you develop those gifts the more beautiful and meaningful becomes the service you have to offer.

In college I wanted to study psychology because I had this vision of working with families. But my parents convinced me to study International Relations instead because of my international background and experience. Soon after I graduated in the mid 1980s, I married a man who became a diplomat and spent two decades following him around the world raising our children. I absolutely loved being a stay-at-home mother – that was my first career and I feel very privileged that I was able to be home with my children when they were little. When my youngest child entered 1st grade, I decided to go back and get a masters in counseling (to pick up that dream thread from my college years). I loved my program and absorbed everything like a sponge. With my extensive life experience – that included a whole gamut of profound challenges and changes that families can go through – I had a solid framework and point of reference for the academic learning. Looking back, I understood that things had unfolded the way they needed to for me to step in to my unique role as a parent coach.

When I moved back to the US in 2013, I had to choose between going back to school to bring my counseling qualifications in line with the American licensing requirements (my counseling degree is from Australia and my certifications are Canadian) or launch directly into private practice as a parent coach. I investigated the first option and found a post-grad program that I could attend but it became quickly clear that this was not the route I was meant to take. It would have required that I spend time and money on things that did not interest me. Learning to diagnose and treat mental health issues is pretty much the polar opposite of what I enjoy, which is to help parents formulate goals, discover strengths and develop a plan for moving forward. I value therapeutic services and am happy to refer clients to counseling when needed. It made sense to me to just go for what I wanted – to have a private practice as a parent coach – rather than use my resources to grow in a direction that did not align with my personal priorities and strengths.

So what advice would I give myself? Follow your heart, it will not lead you astray. I devoted a large portion of my life to raising my children and do not have one single regret about that even though it meant that at age 40 I had no “career” in the curriculum vitae sense of the word. When the time was right, the move to a meaningful career was almost seamless because I continued to build on that which was most important to me. As a school counselor I continued to care for children and teenagers and then discovered that helping other parents gave me such joy and satisfaction that I could not imagine doing anything else. At age 18, I had a deep knowing that having a private practice supporting families was in my destiny, but I had no idea how I was going to get there. So my advice to myself and to anyone starting out would be to always listen to your inner wisdom and trust the process of life to get you where you need to go.

The main problem for therapists in private practice is that the number of clients they support caps their income. To earn more money, they either need to see more clients or raise their fees.

My plan is to build my practice not just around private sessions but around providing broader services and resources that empower parents. I’m on a mission to change the face of parenting. I want mothers and fathers to know how important they are and that they can make small changes in their family that make big differences. I want parents to know that the problems they face are the problems that all parents face, that they are not alone. I want parents to embrace their parenting journey as one of learning and growth, so their children can embrace life as a process of learning and growth. I want parents to trust their inner wisdom and to teach children to be inner focused rather than distracted by the false promises of our commercialized culture. I want parents to be empowered as human beings and to parent their children to be empowered so they can make their unique contributions to society.

I have developed a self-help resource for parents called The Parent Deck. Amongst other services, I offer parents private sessions based on the deck and am developing a workshop based on the cards as well as a program called the Parent Empowerment Group (PEG). My vision is to spread the cards, the workshops and the PEGs as far and wide as possible, so that parents everywhere can experience the possibility of change and the power of living life as a continual opportunity for growth. This truth is what I want parents everywhere to experience, so they can pass it to their children, filling society with happy, productive people focused on making their dreams come true.

Private practice limits you if you allow it to limit you by only offering private sessions. If you open yourself to the deeper message you want your life to bring to the world, you can develop other services and resources that can be shared on a wider platform, providing a larger transformative service and, by default, a wider source of income for you, the practitioner.

My practice is physically located at 701 Melvin Avenue, Suite B, Annapolis, MD 21401, USA but I offer coaching services via Skype so can support parents anywhere in the world as long as the sessions are conducted in English.

I can be contacted at info@bestparentbestchild.com or by calling 443-699-4904. Another way is to go on the website and have a look at the range of services I offer and fill in the Contact Us form, letting me know which service you are interested in. The website is www.bestparentbestchild.com. On the website you can also click the “Join Now” button (lower left button on the home page) and become a member of the Best Parent, Best Child community. As a member you will receive a free copy of the highlights from my Guide for Raising Great Kids and a weekly inspirational message from The Parent’s Pledge, which consists of 52 promises a parent makes when their child comes in this world.

My credentials and educational background are listed on the website, but, in brief, I hold a Masters in Social Science (Counselling) from the University of South Australia, am a certified Solution-Focused Brief Therapist and Coach with a Professional Specialization in Solution-Focused Practice, and am a PCI Certified Parent Coach®.

I offer an empowering, engaging, eclectic, positive and often fun approach that helps parents make significant change in a pre-defined number of sessions. I offer specialized programs that meet parents at their level of need. In a 30-minute free consultation I help parents determine which service will be of greatest benefit to them.

Some parents may wish to buy The Parent Deck and use it on their own with the instructions provided. Or they may sign up for a single Parent Deck Empowerment Session designed to get them launched in a positive direction.
Other parents may wish to sign up for a series of 4-6 sessions to make progress around an issue that is causing problems in the family or for the marriage.

For parents who are feeling overwhelmed, stuck or have a deep wish that things could be different, I offer 10-12 week coaching packages that bring transformative change. In these 4D programs, parents Discover their strengths and Dream about how their life could be better. They then Design steps to move in that direction and, three months in to the process, in the Destiny phase, celebrate the new path they are on, consolidating their learning so they can continue to move in this positive direction.

I also offer specialized grief support for bereaved parents. I am a bereaved parent myself and was a facilitator with a child bereavement support group for many years. I have supported many bereaved parents through their darkest hour. On the scale of disempowerments, child bereavement represents the most profound loss of power. I have developed my own approach for supporting parents through this darkest of tunnels and, because I have experience this long dark night of the soul myself, I am able to offer bereaved parents unique guidance and hope.

I offer an exclusive service for parents because I have a rare blend of trainings and experience. I do not explore the past or investigate root cause of problems. My focus is on goals, growth and potential. I am especially interested in the inner resources that families bring to the table. By giving parents new tools and time to reflect in a structured manner, I help them find the solutions they are looking for. I am not an advice giver but a process facilitator. Life has given me direct experience with many of the issues parents bring to the table. I have guided my children through multiple life transitions: international moves, separation and divorce, grief and loss, adoption, blended and bi-cultural families and the full range of issues that parents typically manage in the course of raising children. Because of my combined professional and life experience, parents know that I understand their story and trust me to safely guide them as they make the positive changes they most desire. I give parents my best and when they commit to the parent coaching process, miracles can happen.