My Story
Looking back on my life I can barely believe the story of an abandoned and neglected child is my own.
Oh no, don’t fret, this story has a happy ending, but it’s been a long journey of growth and self-discovery to get to this place.
The place where I can clearly see how to help you and your relationship to your child through your relationship and discovery to YOURSELF.
Let’s start at the beginning.
I was born a flower child to two loving young (hippie) parents. They parented the best they knew how… as we all do. Conflict and addictions broke their marriage, eventually my mother left. My dad did his best, but his subsequent girlfriend was less than enamoured by the 3 year old she was supposed to nurture but instead neglected and mistreated.
Ultimately my grandparents took charge to raise me in their kind and loving home. For decades I felt the loss, abandonment and rejection. I adopted many of the core traits that people with abandonment as core beliefs and wounds do; people pleasing, avoiding conflict, feelings of low self-worth and not enoughness.
My journey to becoming a Conscious Parenting Coach, on reflection seems inevitable or fated. I never want another child to feel the pain I have experienced. I completed my Registered Nursing training at the Princess Alexandra Hospital Brisbane when I was 21 years old. After working in a small country hospital and supporting the local midwives in birth, I knew I NEEDED to become a midwife, it truly felt like a calling that had to be answered. I moved to New Zealand to train in dual care Hospital and Home Birth Midwifery/Maternity.
A return to Australia (and many unhealthy relationships in between) and later a move to the Sunshine Coast provided the next steppingstone. I got married and had my own children. I struggled with being the best parent, looking to give my children more than I had to give, triggered by my own childhood wounds. I felt depleted, lost and challenged by life. I had no idea how to do better or be better.
In my role as a midwife, I had helped countless women birth and breastfeed, so when my son was born, I was surprised I had so much difficulty with breastfeeding. I became a lactation consultant to support mothers with the breastfeeding challenges I too had been supported with.
On reflection there was a large element of feeling that being a mother and the mothering role, just wasn’t enough, that I wasn’t enough which also drove my desire to get the certification. With a 10-week-old baby and a 20 month old toddler I sat my International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) exam.
After decades of serving as a midwife, the shift work became an issue to be present for my family. Night shift left me sleep deprived, impatient and irritable with my husband and children, I studied to become a Child and Family Health Nurse….no more shift work meant I had more time and energy for my family and myself.
My role as a child health nurse sees me providing care, support and education for women and families from birth to 5 years old.
My life had come full circle, providing care to vulnerable mothers and their children, having been a vulnerable and neglected child myself.
Despite the joy I feel helping vulnerable families in Child Health, combined with my own healing experiences, I knew I had more to offer the world.
Enter the teachings of Dr Shefali Tsabary, acclaimed author and clinical psychologist specialising in family dynamics and personal development. Dr Shefali runs the Conscious Parenting Institute, teaching souls from all over the globe to become Conscious parenting Coaches.
I see the value of these tools daily both in my current relationships with my boys and family and in my professional role as a Child Health Nurse. On reflection I see how useful these would have been when my children were younger. Dr Shefali’s wisdom has taught me that it’s never too late to make positive and meaningful change.
I became a certified Conscious Parenting Coach complimented with being a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher. Dr Shefali’s program is life enhancing and transformational, it is impossible not to evolve into the best version of yourself. I am eternally grateful to have completed Dr Shefali’s teachings through the Conscious Parenting Institute and to call myself a Conscious Parenting Coach.
