Alita Blanchard | The Aware Mama
Alita Blanchard, Parent Coach, Holistic Counseller (training) and Mother of 4 boys
Having experienced many layers of anger in my home - my own and my kids - I have had to build tools for nervous system care and self compassion so that I could BECOME the be the parent I wanted to be. I learned to listen to tears, tantrums, ride the storms of meltdowns and support my children through hard seasons of aggression and anxiety without using fear, punishment and shame.
I am committed to changing the paradigm of parenting to one that is based on connection, safety and protecting children from harm.
With a high value on growth, I am always expanding my study of trauma, somatic and sensory therapy, aggression, nutrition, gut health, emotional release, nervous system and play. As a highly sensitive person (HSP) myself and raising sensitive, deeply feeling kids in a world that doesn’t prioritise the mental and emotional wellbeing of children OR their parents, I am so passionate about supporting mothers to be the safest person for their children.
There is no doubt that we undergo a transformation when we become a mother. If we are willing to dive in to understanding this transformation, it can be our greatest portal to our own personal growth. This transformation is also known as Matrescence - the process of becoming a mother which brings about physical, psychological, and emotional changes. Helping you to understand and navigate this transformation is where The Aware Mama can help you.
Like many, I came into motherhood with the naïve, privileged and perfect vision of happy children, contented parents, beach walks and a white picket fence. A decade on, we have been through seasons of that happy vision but also to the depths of motherhood burnout, postnatal depression, feelings of loss and failure, extreme anger, deep grief after baby loss and an awakening to the layers of emotional wounds that we all carry which now need attention and healing.
I am a mother to 4 young boys each with their own path on this earth. I experienced births that did not go “to plan”, breastfeeding struggles that led to me exclusively pumping breastmilk for two of my sons and chronic sleep deprivation after my second son was born. It was in this difficult season 7 years ago that I found the philosophies of Aware Parenting and Hand in Hand Parenting and information on the importance of crying in loving arms to release stress and trauma in babies. This started a whole new learning journey on the importance of allowing our babies and children to release pain and stress through crying, tantrums and rage, while being lovingly listened to. As I put these philosophies into practice and could see immediate changes in my baby and toddler, I researched further and started making connections between how the triggers of my children’s pain were also bringing up old emotions in me that had been suppressed for many years.
In 2017, my youngest son Remy was stillborn, mid pregnancy. And, while the process and pain of grief was intense, my beautiful boy has provided me with a deep awakening and a guiding light towards my purpose in life.
I feel honoured to hold space for mothers who are ready to share the depths of their emotions in motherhood and to help them soften their high expectations and slowly, gently learn new skills to help them feel more safe, seen, soothed and secure. So that they can offer this same connection and coregulation to their 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 training (in process 2024) - Awakening Group
Sensory and Somatic Therapy training (in process 2023) - Sensory Therapist
Emotional Body Release practitioner training 2021 - The Art of Listening to Your Body
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
Inspired by the philosophies and teachings of 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.
