Location

Wicklow, Ireland

Languages

English

Coaching SpecialtieS INCLUDE:

About This coach

Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 39-year-old Canadian mother of two, living in Ireland, married to an Irishman. I lived and worked in South East Asia for 15 years working as an Early Years teacher.

I assumed that after years of early years teaching motherhood would be easy for me. I read ALL the books and sought out any additional training I could get as a teacher. I read academic journal articles in the evening and turned these ideas over in my head for days and days. I followed all of the Instagram accounts and parroted all the scripts they taught me. I even got a master’s degree to support and scaffold my teaching and parenting.  I wanted to know it all. I wanted a map. There had to be steps to follow to make it easy just like every other goal I had in life!

But I struggled with motherhood.  I felt I was being consumed by this new life and felt my identity slipping away. Being a mum was hard, and I wasn’t always enjoying it. I was struggling to reconcile gentle parenting with the pressures, challenges and realities of being a mother.

So I took a Conscious Parenting course and it utterly transformed me, my relationship with myself and with my children. I dug in. I did the work even though it wasn’t always comfortable or easy. I became aware of my own childhood trauma and the patterns associated with it. recognising, digesting, and growing from these has led to significant, irreversible growth. I am more present, more resilient and have let go of being a perfectionist. I was able to be the mother I wanted to be, take care of myself, and attend to my own needs. I learned what self-care actually meant and began to live it as a daily practice.  I have returned to myself. Now, my maxim, motto, and goal are to strive for growth, not perfection.

I am deeply aware of the impacts coaching has had on my parenting, myself and my family, and I feel called to do this work with parents. Let’s build a village that begins with embodied conscious parenting!

I am a qualified parent coach through the Jai Institute of Parenting.

I am currently enrolled in Mama Rising, and will become a coach and facilitator of Mama Rising and have ICF certification in September 2024.

I have a Master’s in Innovative Education and 14 years of experience as an early years teacher in several international schools and countries across Asia.

I am inspired by the works of: Gabor Mate, Gordon Neufeld, Mona Delahooke, Laura Markham, Alfie Kohn, Somatic Experiencing, Cath Counihan and Asha Frost.

What Makes THEM Special?

I have a strong understanding of development and children. As a teacher I studied and obtained a Masters in Innovative Education. I worked in Asia in international schools for fifteen years and in that time got to know many children and their parents. This experience taught me a lot about cultural parenting practices and I deeply respect and value how culture and language impact how we raise our children. My role is to support parents in becoming concious about what they want to take from their cultures and the values that drive their parenting. I have worked with many families with parents from different countries and their children. My lens and deep understanding of child development supports me in understanding if behaviours are developmental or something else. I use this to support my clients and if they're interested grow their understanding around child development.

I understand expat families. I understand the difficulty in birthing and rearing your children in a country that is not your own. The challenges and the  opportunities are many! I also understand the pressures of international schools from a parent and a teacher perspective and provide active listening and practical support.

Ready to start parenting with peace and connection?