I’m a
social worker, parenting educator, and coach, with a PhD from the University of Maryland School of Social Work. My research focuses on parenting stress, mindfulness, self-compassion, and emotion regulation in parents of young children.
But, more importantly, I am a mom of 3 and I know the challenges of trying to remain calm in the face of tantrums, meltdowns, and daily life as a parent. If you'd told me 10 years ago that I would not only BE a mindful parent, but would be researching and teaching mindful parenting, I would never have believed you. I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and - yep! - I yelled at my kids a lot.
Although I’ve had many years of therapy, parenting classes, and hours and hours of meditation, it’s the simple day-to-day practices I teach in this program that helped me be the calm, confident, emotionally regulated parent that I am today. Don’t get me wrong - I still have my moments and no parent is perfect, but I now have the tools to get back to emotional balance when I start to lose my sh*t!
I am so excited to share with you what I have learned as a researcher and as a parent!