Dana Parisi

I am a Certified Parent Coach and Certified Educational Trainer with special training in trauma informed approaches.  My desire is to help families and educators of children/students dealing with persistent challenging or explosive behaviors.  I also have my master’s in Physical Therapy and am a Certified Functional Nutrition Informed Professional (CFNIP) with passion for total body health and wellness.  I’m a busy mom of 4 kids, two biological and two adopted.  During my parenting journey I have had to learn new tools and adjust my approach based on my kids' unique needs.  I have experienced many challenging situations as a parent including children who deal with ADHD, OCD tendencies, adoption and relational trauma, extreme explosive episodes, sensory sensitivities, learning struggles, sibling fights, emotional struggles and more.  I know how isolating it can feel to be struggling without success with your kids.  We can’t do this alone and there are tools out there to help you.   As a mom I have seen healing in my family from some really dark and difficult places.  As a parent coach I have had the privilege to help many families move from survive to THRIVE.  Healing is possible! 
​If you are frustrated as a parent, dealing with lots of challenging behaviors and the things you’re trying just aren’t working, then parent coaching is for you.  
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If you are looking for natural solutions to problems such as:  lack of energy, struggles with mood, stress or anxious feelings, sleep issues, your health or weight loss journey, pain, gut issues or focus/ concentration and mental clarity, than a free wellness consultation is your next step.  Reach out and lets talk.  

Why I'm Doing This Work

I thought I had been through several tough seasons already in my parenting journey, but nothing had prepared me for the extreme relational trauma that my third child carried with her when she was adopted.  Adopted at age 2, we had many struggles to help our daughter adjust and thrive in our family.  She would bring her perfect persona everywhere in public but have huge meltdowns at home.  We were limping along and doing “well enough” until her 2nd grade year when she begged me to home-school her because she didn’t understand what was going on in school.   The struggles become overwhelming.  I felt like I was trapped at home with an abusive person.  The rages and meltdowns could be triggered by the slightest thing and could last for hours.  I felt like I walked through my home-schooling day with her like one would walk through a land-mine… never knowing when the explosion would happen.  Every area of my life was suffering, my physical and mental health, my relationships with the rest of my family, my connection with my friends.  Nothing I tried was working… until I learned this parenting approach and put it into practice.  Our lives started turning around.  I started seeing healing and growth in my daughter and we started inching from “survive”  towards “thrive” as a family.   If you have tried everything, are discouraged and ready for a parenting approach that works for all children including the most challenging kiddos, then this parent coaching is for you.  

Work With Me

Parent Coaching

If we work together for parent coaching,  I will help you learn to work WITH your child, rather than against your child.  We will explore the possible roots of your child’s behaviors, rather than just trying to control the child to make him or her obey.  Many children have early traumatic or adverse experiences that affect how their brain is wired, and how they perceive their current experiences. This trauma can come from many different sources, it may be related to adoption or foster care including early losses of birth parents.  It may be early or traumatic births, early hospitalization, witnessing stressful events in the home or the community, or related to a medical diagnosis.  It could be separation from parents due to illness or divorce, being the subject of bullying or feeling isolated due to differences.  It may be stress related to COVID, stress or tension in the home for any number of reasons or isolation from friends and peers.  The bottom line is that the behaviors you are seeing are just the tip of the iceberg, the visible part, and we need to understand what’s underneath the surface in order to help child grow.  

This isn’t a place to blame parents for their kids' behaviors.  I know that parents do the best they can for their child with the tools and resources they have available.  The question is, do you have all the tools you need to meet your child where he or she is at?    And just like parents and caregivers are doing the best they can with the tools they have, kids are also doing the best they can with the skills and resources they have.  You can learn to help your kid gain those skills to succeed!
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Working together, I will help you adjust the lens that you use to view your child and the behaviors you are struggling with.  I will teach you techniques to help tame the meltdown dragon.  A process where you work to keep yourself calm as you help calm your child.  We will use the HEART-STRONG method which uses Honesty, Empathy, Acceptance, Respect and Trust along with Strengths Based Training for Resilience and Optimistic Narratives of Growth.  It’s a system that meets you where you are at and helps you build a deeper, more connected relationship with your child that will result in improved interactions and behaviors.  It works!  Be hopeful!  There is growth and healing ahead. 

Wellness Consult

Your free wellness consultation will focus on the physical or mental health struggles you or your family are experiencing.  Issues such as lack of energy, mood struggles, feeling easily frustrated or impatient, focus and concentration issues, pain, gut health problems, sleep struggles, hormonal imbalance,  fitness and weight loss goals.  We will discuss natural options for you to consider.