About Me
Professionally, I am passionate about:
- parenting (helping parents grow personally as well as a whole family, learn about various parenting styles and approaches, find balance between taking care of their children and self-care, ...) AND
- helping foreigners living in the Czech Republic (dealing with culture shock, language barrier, cultural differences in the relationship with a foreign partner, culturally different approaches to raising their children, ...)
I had the opportunity to live and study abroad for 6 years which was a wonderful experince, but also very challenging, especially in the beginning. I experienced the culture shock, the need to adapt to a completely new environment, to a new life in a foreign language, all while representing the university in tennis as well as fulfilling my academic responsibilities. It was quite challenging at times, especially since I was separated from my family and my support system. Therefore, I feel very passionate about "giving back" to the community of foreigners living in the Czech Republic most likely facing similar challenges as I faced. Support, encouragement and sharing in a safe environment is what I would like to offer to foreigners living in the Czech Republic.
I learned about various approaches to parenting and specifically about Positive Discipline during completing my master's degree in the USA in 2012.
My internship supervisor was Dr. Kelly Gfroerer (currently the Executive Director of the Positive Discipline Association in the USA) who wrote a book together with Dr. Jane Nelsen (co-founder of the Positive Discipline training program) called Positive Discipline Tools for Teachers. The principles of the Positive Discipline, based on the work of Alfred Adler really resonated with me. However, at that time I was not a parent so I somewhat forgot about it.
Later, when I was thinking about the parenting approach towards my two daughters (4 and 1 year old at that time), I brushed up on my Positive Discipline knowledge. I realized how much the Positive Discipline principles resonate with me and how much they make sense. Therefore, I decided to complete the training "Teaching Parenting the Positive Discipline Way" and became a Certified Positive Discipline Parent Educator.
As a mom, I deal with parenting challenges on a daily basis. My children teach me patience and self-awareness of my own limits and obstacles every day. I try to be the best mom for my children, however, sometimes I make mistakes that I later regret and realize I could have handled the situation better. At the same time though, I take these mistakes as wonderful opportunities to react differently next time. What I see as a huge gift is that children offer us, parents, countless opportunities for our own growth and self-awareness and as I have learned myself several times - they are the best life teachers.
One of the most inspiring principles of Positive Discipline for me is that "mistakes are wonderful opportunities to learn". Also, modeling to children that we, as adults, make mistakes too and showing them how we deal with mistakes is one of the most important life skills that we can pass on to our children. Theferore, I would like to offer you this awareness and encourage you that you are not alone in the parenting proces, that you do not have to be the "perfect" parent (does that even exist?), that you do not have to perceive mistakes as failures but actually as an opportunity for change and growth that can be significant for you and the whole family.
Education and Certification
I received my bachelor's degree in Psychology at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
I continued my studies at GSU and in 2013, I received a master's degree in Mental Health Counseling.
After returning back to the Czech Republic, I worked as a counselor in a non-profit organization Blue Cross in the Czech Republic, offering counseling to people addicted to alcohol, other substances or pathological gambling as well as to family members of these clients. This work experience was very fulfilling, but at the same time, I felt more and more inclined to work with parents and children as I originally worked with these clients during my master's degree internship (internship at a counseling center - mental health counseling for children aged 3-17 years. Topics included: trauma, addictions, used Filial Therapy and Play Therapy).
Therefore, while on my maternity leave, I decided to complete the training "Teaching Parenting the Positive Way" and became a Certified Positive Discipline Parent Educator.
I am also a member of the Positive Discipline Association.
