Multiracial families Archives

Adrianne Kmet

Monday, October 18 2021 No Comments

Adrianne is a trauma-informed Registered Nurse working with neurodivergent individuals and their families. As a wife and mother of two (soon to be three) children in a neurodivergent family, she deeply understands the importance of acceptance and connection as a safe base from which growth can occur. Adrianne and her husband Martin have used the Hand-in-Hand Parenting tools since their children were young and it has changed their lives!

Magdalena Garcia

Tuesday, September 21 2021 No Comments

Magdalena has supported families and children for many years in preschool, elementary and middle school as a teacher, a teacher coach, and Director. She co-founded a small non-profit K-8 school focused on social-emotional development, moving beyonds rewards and punishments, and on being in relationship with students. She taught in both large inner city public schools and small private schools, and found the struggle for parents and teachers to be the same: how to stay in good relationship with children/students when the going gets rough? And the going sure can get rough!

Priya Raghav, LICSW, RPT-S

Tuesday, January 19 2021 No Comments

Dear lovely parents! I am a proud mother of a passionate 9 year old boy, and a licensed Child and Family Therapist practicing in Seattle WA, supporting the emotional wellbeing of children ages 3-9 and their caregivers. I came across ‘Hand in Hand parenting’ both as a parent and a professional. While I knew all

Muftiah Martin, LMFT

Thursday, August 11 2016 No Comments

When Muftiah found Hand in Hand Parenting, she felt an immediate resonance with the approach. The blend of support for the parent, tools for connecting with children, and tools for handling emotional moments are the perfect trilogy. In it, Muftiah unlocked her passion for supporting other parents in their parenting journey. Muftiah is a Licensed

Sareli Beltran

Wednesday, September 16 2015 No Comments

Sareli has over a decade of experience supporting families through various culturally sensitive tools. It was through her work as a positive parenting educator, that Sareli was first introduced to the wonderful world behind the Parenting by Connection approach. Being a natural skeptic, she decided to take Hand in Hand’s Professionals Intensive first and began

Laurel Near

Tuesday, September 10 2013 No Comments

Laurel Near is the mother of three, two boys and a girl, who are now all adults. She began practicing Parenting By Connection with Patty Wipfler in the late 80s. After completing certification, she taught Building Emotional Understanding classes in her home, marketing only through word-of-mouth. Now she teaches at least four BEU classes per

Kathy Gordon

Friday, August 30 2013 No Comments

Kathy came to parenting late in life. She was single and in her 40s when she recognized her burning desire to be a Mom. So 10 years ago, Kathy adopted a beautiful baby boy, who is now, as tall as she! More than anything Kathy wanted her son to experience the unconditional love that she

Michelle Kokel, Ph. D

Thursday, August 8 2013 No Comments

Michelle has been involved with Hand in Hand since 2008 when she first experienced the transformative power of the listening tools. She feels privileged to support parents as they take on the emotional work necessary to untangle early hurts and build warm, connected relationships and strong support systems. Michelle’s areas of interest include helping children

Maya Coleman, PhD Clinical Psychology, MA Special Education

Tuesday, August 6 2013 No Comments

Maya Coleman is the Executive Director of Hand in Hand Parenting and leads an international staff and cohort of 180+ Certified Instructors to offer Hand in Hand’s unique social-emotional learning approach to parents and professionals worldwide. For the previous decade, Maya worked as a Clinical Psychologist in private practice with families of young children who

Instructor Specialty: Multiracial families