Alita Blanchard | The Aware Mama
Alita Blanchard, Parent Counsellor and Mother of 4 boys
Having experienced many layers of anger in my home—both my own and my children’s—I had to build tools for nervous system care and self-compassion to become the parent I wanted to be. I learned to listen to tears and tantrums, ride the storms of meltdowns, and support my children through seasons of aggression and anxiety—without relying on fear, punishment, or shame.
I am committed to shifting the parenting paradigm toward one rooted in connection, safety, and protecting children from harm.
With a deep passion for growth, I continually expand my knowledge in trauma, somatic and sensory therapy, aggression, nutrition, gut health, emotional release, nervous system regulation, and play. As a highly sensitive person raising sensitive and neurodivergent children in a world that often overlooks the emotional well-being of both kids and parents, I am devoted to helping mothers become the safest place for their children.
Motherhood is a profound transformation. If we are willing to embrace it, it can be our greatest portal for personal growth. This transformation, known as Matrescence, brings physical, psychological, and emotional changes. Helping you navigate this shift is at the heart of my work at The Aware Mama.
Like many, I entered motherhood with an idealised vision—happy children, content parents, beach walks, and a white picket fence. Over a decade later, I have lived seasons of that vision but have also journeyed through motherhood burnout, postnatal depression, loss and failure, extreme anger, deep grief after baby loss, and an awakening to the emotional wounds we all carry—wounds that surface in parenting and call for healing.
I am a mother to four boys, each walking their own unique path. My motherhood journey has included births that didn’t go as planned, breastfeeding struggles that led me to exclusively pump for two of my sons, and chronic sleep deprivation. Seven years ago, in the depths of exhaustion, I discovered Conscious Parenting and Hand in Hand Parenting. Learning about the healing power of listening to tears and reflecting on my own reactions changed everything. As I implemented these philosophies, I saw big shifts in my children, which led me to deeper research. I soon realised that my children's triggers were awakening old, suppressed emotions in me—offering an invitation to heal.
In 2017, my youngest son, Remy, was stillborn late-pregnancy. The grief was immense, but his presence has been a guiding light, deepening my purpose.
I feel honored to hold space for mothers who are ready to share the raw, unspoken depths of motherhood—to help them soften the weight of high expectations and gently build new skills that make them feel safe, seen, soothed, and secure. When we offer this to ourselves, we can offer it to our children.
Knowledge and Research
Always a knowledge seeker and researcher, I have spent hundreds of hours researching brain science, child development, human psyche, low tox living, nutrition, complementary health and I have attended forums and conferences on gut / brain health, raising boys, trauma, positive parenting, embodiment, somatic therapy and more.
Qualifications and Training
Holistic Counsellor - The Awakening Group 2024
Sensory and Somatic Therapy - Sensory Therapist 2023
Emotional Body Release practitioner 2021 - The Art of Listening to Your Body 2022
Trauma informed practitioner (Heal for Life Foundation) 2020
Certified Conscious Parent Coach (Jai Institute of Parenting) 2020
Certified Rites of Passage Facilitator (Rites of Passage Institute) 2020
Informed by teachings on neuroscience, polyvagal theory and attachment science.
Inspired by the philosophies and teachings of Nervous Systen informed parenting, Conscious Parenting (Dr Shefali Tsabary), Mona Delahooke, Somatic Experiencing, Aware Parenting, Hand in Hand Parenting (Patty Wipfler), Unconditional Parenting (Alfie Kohn), Simplicity Parenting (Kim John Payne), Robyn Gobbel, Gabor Mate, Gordon Neufeld, Irene Lyon, Laura Markham, Maggie Dent, Susan Stiffelman to name a few.
