My work arises from my deep love and commitment to young children. I have always been captivated by the extraordinary potential that marks the beginning of each life. Every child is a bright burst of unique possibility, born with the capacity for intimacy with everything they encounter, primed to develop into beings of compassion and integrity, and to weave their place in the web of life.
My heart has always known that our earliest relationships are crucial to maximizing our potential for meaningful, loving, joyful and connected lives. I followed my heart into a career that has spanned many forms of support for those precious early bonds. I have been a homebirth midwife, birth doula, residential postpartum counselor, case manager, parent educator, perinatal mood disorder specialist, and child trauma therapist.
We live in a culture of relational poverty. One in which wealth is defined by the accumulation of objects and external success. In this system, the evolutionary, neurobiological, relational needs of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens are consistently negated in service to paid work that enables the consumption of goods. Over and over again we are reminded by our hearts and spirits that this story is a false one. What truly matters are our connections with the living beings around us – time spent enjoying each other, sharing together in the beauty we create, and in the beauty offered up by this world.
Our drive to relate extends well beyond human community. Spend time outside with any young child and it is immediately evident how eager they are to connect with the more-than-human world. Nurturing this connection has become more important than ever before, as the consequences of human impact on the living world enter our reality more each day. Simultaneously, the stress placed on parents is rapidly increasing, as we look ever more warily towards the futures our darling young ones will face.
I have been blessed with opportunities to match my heartfelt passion with intellectual information. I became a fellow of the Napa Infant-Parent Mental Health Postgraduate Fellowship, where I was lucky to be exposed to luminaries in the field, including T. Berry Brazelton, Bruce Perry, Dan Siegel and many more. I received additional training in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, deepening my understanding of infant and early childhood neurodevelopment, and the vital importance of primary caregiving relationships.
Rooted in feminist and social-justice theory, my work with individual parents, children, and families has always been systemic in nature. I have heard hundreds of personal stories over the decades, and they all speak the same truth: the challenges of transitioning into parenthood, and taking responsibility for the precious gift of a human life, are exponentially exacerbated by what Sally Weintrobe has coined our “culture of uncare”.
Parents cannot be expected to take on these monumental tasks with our current minimal levels of social support. We evolved raising our children in circles of extended family and neighborhood. Together, it is time to rebuild communities of care for parents and children.
My work today is strongly influenced by my experience in the Leadership Institute for Just and Resilient Communities, my role on the executive committee of the Climate Psychology Alliance – North America, and the opportunity to participate in the International Transformational Resilience Coalition Community of Practice. I am committed to helping craft conscious and resilient community. Community that will serve the needs of each and all of us, most especially the youngest and most vulnerable members, as we encounter the unfolding ecological crises.
This work takes many forms: nature-based therapeutic workshops for parents and young children, early childhood mental health consultation, community resilience and trauma-responsive education and training, and organizational coaching in reflective communication and liberatory design. Through it all, I seek to promote community wellbeing while disrupting the systems of injustice that disproportionately burden young families, and especially young families in marginalized communities.
I am available to provide workshops, trainings, and consultation at the intersection of of climate justice, early childhood development, nature connection, and community resilience. I look forward to connecting and discovering what we can co-create together!
