Patricia Thom

I coach individual parents and couples in many parts of the world via Zoom and offer a complimentary Discovery Session to see if we are a good fit. I feel comfortable working with families of all types and understand the challenges of single parents, blended families, physician families, and all families striving to balance work and family life.

I am honored to assist parents awaken to the true needs within their families and implement techniques that meet those needs. It is fulfilling to witness how skilled coaching can support parents in harnessing their unique knowledge and strengths towards a heartfelt and confident family life. A family life where both parents and children thrive as they understand they, as individuals are an intrinsic part of a family.

The coaching process works to create a sustainable vision of family life by bringing to light the strengths, goals, and energy within each parent and child.

I first began supporting parents through my work as a midwife in the 1980s. For over 40 years I have been dedicated to both studying and sharing concepts in child development, family life, and education. I have also worked as a teacher and a Camphill housemother; I also founded a high school exchange organization and worked as an administrator in Waldorf schools.

My work as a Parent Coach is also supported through my B.A. in Psychology, my graduate level certification course through Parent Coaching Institute, and decades of professional development courses in education, personal development, art, and medicine.

My “perfectly imperfect” journey as a parent began with the birth of my first daughter in 1984. I had worked as a midwife for several years by that time and the early phase of mothering seemed to be a good fit with my natural parenting impulses. The next few years brought divorce, remarriage, and two more births—a second daughter and a son.

This was a time of fatigue, intense joy, and overwhelming satisfaction as we immersed ourselves in the nurturing of a young boisterous family life. As my children grew there were times of real searching and struggle, especially as their individual needs and personalities became more apparent.

I am grateful for a supportive husband who had (and continues to have) a strong focus on family life. We moved to Switzerland when our youngest was in first grade and enjoyed the experience of parenting/living in a different culture during that sabbatical year.

After moving back to the United States it seemed like no time at all until we were in the thick of middle school and high school.

Having three teenagers with three very different outlooks, skills and needs felt like juggling a small chainsaw, a kitten, and a chocolate cake—all at the same time.

Like most parents of teenagers I had many times of listening, worrying, guiding, not understanding, planning, and encouraging with days that I wished I could have a “do over.” We all struggled through and now have the blessing of three adult children successfully navigating their lives with a lot of connection between themselves and with us.

My life was transformed through the intentional process of parenting three children. That transformation is personal but formed the foundation for my work as a parent coach.