Hello! My name is Bao-Tram and I'm glad you're here. For the past 13 years, I've dedicated my time to providing therapy and coaching to children and their families. I have held many hats as a clinician, educator, psychotherapist, choir conductor, youth group coordinator, consultant, and mentor, but the most important role I've held has to be as a mother.
I was born and raised in Vietnam until the age of 21, which was when I came to the United States to earn a Bachelor's degree in Child and Adolescent Development and a Master's in Social Work, eventually leading to me earning my license as a Clinical Social Worker. I have worked with parents and children of all ages, where I have honed my specialty in family therapy.
As a family therapist, I've had countless conversations with parents telling me about their anxieties, doubts, stresses, and difficulties with balancing work and family life, culminating in many parents saying they lost the joy and meaning in parenting. Nothing brings me more joy than helping parents find their happiness and meaning, and my passion for families and children has only grown and deepened over the years.
Being born and raised in Vietnam, I've experienced and observed the effects of two different ideas and ideologies when it comes to parenting. Vietnamese families, and Asian families in general, typically have a more authoritarian style of parenting in which kids are meant to be seen and not heard. Though this parenting can be effective for "academic success," it deprives the child of independence and confidence. On the other end of the spectrum, the dominant parenting style in western cultures is more permissive. My focus is to bridge between these two parenting styles to allow a more authoritative style; one that allows children to grow up confident, flexible, and healthy - mentally and emotionally.
Our focus is to walk side-by-side with you. We always hold you with unconditional positive regard, and we do our best to understand you and your perspective.
Our coaches are developmentally sensitive and neurobiologically informed to help you build richer relationships with your children.
No one operates in a vacuum. Our professionals also look at clients in relationships and the interactional patterns and dynamics of people in family systems.
Each of us manifest our parenting styles based on our thoughts and feelings. We can help you get better insight and understanding of these thoughts.
We look at the subsystems, boundaries, and hierarchies that make up a family structure to direct interactions between family members to induce positive change.
Rather than focus on the problems, we look at solutions through a positive psychology lens in order to elicit hope and change.
We help uncover defenses and both conscious and unconscious biases that limit the quality of your interactions with your children to help you create the change you're looking for.
We understand that the successful transition from one stage of ones' life to the next is key toward proper development. Let us help guide and prepare you and your children through each stage.
A parent coach is a highly trained individual who helps caregivers navigate challenges with their children and help strengthen the family unit through a supportive relationship and intentional coaching process. Our parent coaches provide empathic listening, emotional support, ask key questions, provide information, and coach you to learn and implement specific new strategies to improve the relationship and communication between you and your children.
We invite you to think of a parent coach as a supportive companion who champions your highest aspirations for yourself, your children, and your family. Our services are for families, individuals, couples, parents, caregivers, and anyone who wants to build a harmonious, purposeful, and joyful family life. Parent coaching is non-judgmental, empowering, collaborative, and gentle. With our guidance and support, you're sure to find what is working in your family dynamic.
Parent coaching is flexible based on your needs: we can work over the phone, by web conference, and once we are cleared of this pandemic and it is safe to do so, we can meet in person. Remote coaching has many advantages: You don't have to hire a sitter or make special plans to leave your house or desk. We can accommodate to fit your schedule.
Coaching is a collaborative process by which you, the client, choose the goals you want to work on or the situations you want to improve. I will then help to keep you on target and provide support, consultation, and suggestions to help you achieve your goals. The intention for coaching is for improvement, achievement, and greater fulfillment. Therapy’s goal is for greater improvement in functioning but it presumes that there is a lack of functioning or impairment as the starting point. If at any point the issues transcend our task, I will make a referral to the appropriate mental health provider.
Yes! In most cases these parenting classes are recognized by many courts in several jurisdictions. Make sure to check with your local court to confirm that they recognize the parenting classes you are taking. Additionally, we offer a certificate of completion which may be accepted by your court as well.
The average number of 1:1 coaching session is between 12-15 sesssions, but some are able to accomplish their goals in fewer sessions (shortest number of sessions was 3). This mainly depends on parents' level of readiness, engagement, and client's goals. I recommend scheduling an initial consultation to discuss the scope of the parent coaching so that you can both decide on how many sessions will be best for your particular situation.
We understand life happens, so we accept cancelations at no charge so long as they're more than 24 hours.
Cancelations less than 24hrs - $50
No-shows - $150
While both are similar in that they provide a service to you, the client, Parent Coaching affords me the opportunity to serve more people. Not everyone will be able to receive therapy, as therapy often requires a clinical diagnosis; however, in the case of parent coaching, I'm able to focus on the parent-child relationship, and I'm given the full flexibility of providing whatever interventions that will provide the best results to my clients.