I am a registered Child and Youth Care Practitioner, Family Mediator registered with the Ontario Association of Family Mediators©, and a Parent Coach. I work with families navigating conflict, parenting challenges, and major transitions — with clear, practical, trauma-informed support.
My path to this work was not a straight line — and I think that is part of what makes me effective. What began as a personal journey through burnout, recovery, and renewal became years of deep exploration into nervous system regulation, boundaries, mindfulness, and sustainable ways of living and helping.
That journey is documented in my book, Helping Effortlessly: A Book of Healing and Inspiration, which remains available as a reflection of that body of work.
I am a Family Mediator (AccFM-Qualifying through York University, with full Accredited Family Mediator status expected late 2026), Parent Coach, Certified Divorce Coach (IAP), and Registered Child and Youth Care Practitioner (CYCP). I am a member of OACYC, OAFM, and DCAO. Over decades of direct, hands-on work, I have developed particular depth in the family dynamics that bring people to coaching and mediation: high-conflict co-parenting, court-involved parenting, and the everyday challenges of raising children and youth with complex special needs including ADHD, ASD, FASD, and ODD.
For 18 years I served as a treatment foster parent with the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, including participation in a multi-year clinical pilot project for hard-to-serve children and youth. I am a parent to five adult children, including a neurodivergent son, and a proud grandparent. These experiences give me a grounded, practical understanding of what parenting under pressure actually looks like, not in theory, but in real life.
Today I run a fully insured private practice in parent coaching, divorce coaching, and family mediation. Alongside this work, I continue in case management within the foster care sector, supporting caregivers and contributing to systems-level improvements, with a particular focus on the transition from child welfare into adult developmental services. My earlier career includes program development for foster care agencies, placement work, and over a decade as a child and youth worker in residential and community settings.
I hold a Child and Youth Care Advanced Diploma with Honours from Humber College, and have completed roughly 470 hours of mandated continuing professional development across my years in foster care and case management, covering crisis intervention, FASD, trauma-informed care, suicide intervention, and many other areas relevant to complex family work.
I am the author of Helping Effortlessly: A Book of Inspiration and Healing, and have been featured in The Canadian Press, CBC News Toronto, the Toronto Star, and on radio across Canada speaking on burnout, parenting, and family wellbeing.
My approach is rooted in a trauma-informed framework — one that recognizes the impact of adverse experiences on both children and parents, and prioritizes safety, trust, and regulation in every interaction.
Whether I am coaching a parent through a crisis or guiding a family through mediation, I bring this lens to all of my work.
I actively provide parent coaching across North America, supporting parents navigating high-conflict family dynamics, complex co-parenting situations, and court-involved parenting challenges.
I also offer family mediation services grounded in the same child-focused, trauma-informed approach. I am trained in child-focused mediation and bring extensive experience supporting children and youth with complex and diverse needs.
I am also working toward specialized training in Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM) and Voice of the Child (VOC) to further deepen this child-focused mediation work.
I serve as a board member with Mindfulness Everyday©, and hold a certificate in mindful parenting. While I no longer offer burnout coaching as a standalone service, the principles from that work — which I delivered for eight years to organizations including HSBC, CIBC, RE/MAX, the Ontario Association of Social Workers (OASW), and the Foster Parent Society — continue to shape how I support families, particularly around regulation, boundaries, and resilience.
I also have a growing interest in the Walsh Protocol and its application to mood, behaviour, and family wellbeing — bringing a biochemical and holistic lens to the work of supporting parents and children.
I am currently accepting clients for family mediation, parent coaching, and divorce coaching. I am AccFM-Qualifying through York University, with full Accredited Family Mediator status expected in late 2026, and a Certified Divorce Coach through IAP.
My background in child welfare, high-conflict family dynamics, burnout prevention, and systems-based thinking supports a calm, structured, and ethically grounded approach to family support.
Outside of my professional work, I enjoy pickleball, cycling, hiking, gardening, and time in nature. Food and cooking have always been a deeply personal passion — rooted in my own transformation after losing 80 pounds and keeping it off through clean eating, including paleo and keto approaches.
These quieter rhythms support the life I have intentionally built — grounded in sustainability, presence, and respect for seasons of change.
