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I’m thrilled you are interested in learning a bit more about my journey to Parents with Confidence!

As long as I can remember, I’ve loved working with special needs children. This is what provoked me into entering the field of Child Psychology and Family Therapy. I’ve worked in many settings with children and am currently working in private practice as a Family Therapist. I’ve never stopped being inspired by the resiliency of children and the power of family. I work with many families who are unsure of how to proceed with the challenges that family life has brought them. I believe each and every family has unique gifts and strengths that have been there all along, waiting to be acknowledged and harnessed.

I’ve been married to my husband Ryan for 10 years. In that time, God has given our family more challenges and opportunities for growth than we could have ever asked for (or would have asked for, if I’m being honest!). Our oldest daughter was born with a congenital heart defect, which is a chronic illness that required her to have four open-heart surgeries in her short life. She is now seven years old and is crushing it. She is also a tad strong willed and has certainly refocused our ideas on what really matters, greatly shaping our parenting outlook and approach.

Our second daughter continued to prove to us we didn’t really know what we were doing. She is now five years old and is feisty, spirited, smart and energetic. She lives with sensory and regulation challenges, which she works hard to overcome Every. Single.Day. Our world is not overly accomodating for kids with different neurological wiring, so we are all learning to slow down and better control our emotions together. She inspires our family to look at things from different perspectives each day.

 

 

Our youngest is a squishy little toddler who brings so much balance to our family. He is the calm to our spastic, the sweet to our salty, the Phoebe to our Monica. Ever since he was an infant we noticed how calming his gentle spirit was to our family. He continues to teach us to go with the flow and chill (and also how to fit the most Match-Box cars into a solitary toilet bowl).

As parents, we all start the job with a certain perception of how it will look, yet many times life hands us another reality. This reality is oftentimes ripe with opportunities for change and growth…showing us that in fact, being a parent might be the best opporutnity possible to learn more about how to not only raise kids, but also to raise ourselves.

We no longer parent based on what we thought we knew, (but what a fun hot mess that was for a few years!), but based on our children’s own unique personalities and the developmental stage they are currently in. Oh yeah, and also with love. Lots of love (love is not only the answer in life, but also in parenthood).

We are tripping, falling and getting back up again and again on this journey of parenting, and we’re excited to travel it
together, hopefully sharing some helpful information, support and humor in the process.

Angela