There is a place for you here.
Wherever you are starting from.
Everyone has their own golden thread. You do not have to have it figured out to begin. I walk beside you for a while, so you can find your own way.
Book a coffee chatSee ways to work with me
It starts with a coffee chat. Not a sales pitch.
Everyone has their own golden thread. People build their own jigsaw puzzles, and they are drawn to the ones who walk beside them for a short while.
My work is not about keeping you with me long term. It is about giving you the capacity to make your own decisions.
So our first conversation is about building a relationship. I want to hear what is happening, so I know where I can help, and you can feel whether I am the right person to walk beside you. There is no pressure and no wrong place to begin.
I do not follow one method. I weave.
Over the years I have moved from dogma to trusting my own wisdom. Dance with Me in the Heart, my Pikler training, Circle of Security, Self-Reg, Interplay and attachment mentoring all live in how I work, woven into Relational Flow.
That is why no two families work with me in the same way. You can't see what you don't know what to look for, so I gently guide you to see what is hidden in plain sight, and we go at the pace your family needs.
I work with parents, with couples and with families, and I also work with educators and leaders. For deeper trauma, I work alongside an organisation, because trauma needs the village. I am in regular supervision, because the work touches deep places and everyone in the room deserves to be held safely, including me.
This is for you if
- You love your children deeply and still lose it in the hard moments
- Your child’s behaviour does not make sense, and you want to understand it
- You are exhausted and cannot work out why
- Something older keeps showing up in how you react
- You want support that builds your own wisdom, not support you depend on
What we all need. Someone to see us without changing us.
HELD was created for mothers who need to be truly seen before they can fully see their child. Mothers doing everything right on paper, who still feel disconnected from the people they love most.
It is not a parenting manual and it is not about techniques. It is about the conditions in which real connection becomes possible. I have been that mother. I know it is not more advice she needs. It is to be held first.
Prefer to begin with others, or in your own time?
There is a particular kind of relief in a room of people who are all trying to show up better for the people they love. You are not the only one.
Couples and groups
Circle of Security
My go to when parents don’t know where to start. A 6 to 7 week course for couples or groups, with the flexibility busy families need. It is the entry level to understanding behaviour. Many parents arrive wanting to fix their child, and realise by the end that it is about working with the relationship.
Chat about thisCommunication course
Why Can’t We Just Talk?
For partners, parents, adult children or friends caught in the same arguments again and again. We look at your repeating patterns, the core wounds beneath them, and how to say what you need without setting them off. Educational, not therapy.
Find out moreWorkshops
For parents, educators and early childhood teams
Nervous system education, real conversation and practical understanding of what lies beneath challenging behaviour. Not performance. Not tips. Real work, done together. Book one, or take the seven workshop suite for early childhood centres.
See the workshops
Not sure where to start?
That is completely fine. Most people are not.
Come and have a coffee chat with me. We will find out together where I can help, and there is no wrong place to begin. You do not have to arrive certain. You just have to arrive.
There is a place for you here.
Wherever you are starting from.
Whether you are just beginning to understand your nervous system, or you are ready for deep personalised work, there is something here that meets you where you are. You do not have to have it figured out to begin.
Coming Back to Yourself
For sensitive mothers finding their way back.
This is a self-paced online course built for mothers who feel the gap between the mother they want to be and the mother they are in the hard moments. It is not about becoming a different person. It is about understanding the person you already are.
You will learn the neuroscience of your own nervous system. You will understand why you respond the way you do under stress. You will begin to see your patterns not as failures but as a nervous system that learned what it needed to learn. And you will start, gently and at your own pace, to change what needs to change.
You do not need to be in crisis to benefit from this course. You just need to be a mother who wants to come home to herself.
This course is for you if
- You love your children deeply and still lose it in the hard moments
- You know the theory but cannot seem to get there in real time
- You feel like you are always the one holding everything together
- You want to understand yourself before you can show up differently for others
- You need something you can do in your own time around your real life
HELD was created for mothers who need to be truly seen before they can fully see their child. Fearful avoidant mothers. Mothers who have experienced trauma. Mothers who are doing everything right on paper and still feel disconnected from the people they love most.
This is not a parenting programme. It is not about teaching you techniques. It is about creating the conditions in which real connection becomes possible. For you. For your child. For your relationship.
HELD is the programme I created when I realised the existing frameworks were not reaching the mothers who needed them most. I have been that mother. I know what she needs. And it is not more advice. It is to be held first.
Work with Donna Directly
Deep, personalised support for you and your family.
This is the most direct way to work with me. We meet regularly, we go deep, and we work on what is actually happening in your life, your relationships and your nervous system right now.
I draw on everything I have studied and everything I have lived. Pikler, Integrated Attachment Theory, Circle of Security, Stuart Shanker Self Reg, Interplay, and the full body of my own hard-won experience. I bring all of it to every session.
I work with mothers, with couples, and with families. I also work with educators and leaders who want to understand relational dynamics in their professional context. If you are not sure whether this is right for you, reach out and we will talk it through.
I have supervision with Donna Berry, one of New Zealand's most respected voices on trauma. That supervision is part of how I ensure everyone who works with me is held safely, including me.
This is for you if
- You want personalised support rather than a programme
- Your situation feels complex or layered
- You are ready to go deep and do the real work
- You want someone who has genuinely lived this, not just studied it
Live Group Experiences
A space to learn, connect and be seen alongside others on the same path.
There is something that happens in a room full of people who are all trying to show up better for the people they love. A particular kind of safety. A particular kind of relief. You are not the only one.
My workshops are built around nervous system education, real conversation and the kind of practical understanding that actually changes how you respond in the hard moments. Not performance. Not tips. Real work, done together.
I run workshops for parents, for educators, and for organisations that want to build genuinely relational cultures. If you are interested in bringing a workshop to your community or workplace, reach out directly.
Workshops cover
- Understanding your nervous system and why you respond the way you do
- Attachment patterns and what they mean in real relationships
- Co-regulation and why your calm is the most powerful tool you have
- What behaviour is really communicating and how to respond rather than react
- Building relational safety in families, classrooms and workplaces
That is completely fine. Most people aren't.
If you are not sure which option is right for you, reach out and we will figure it out together. There is no wrong place to begin. There is only beginning.
Send Donna a messageThe work begins when you feel ready. And you're here, which means part of you already is.
You do not have to arrive certain. You just have to arrive.
