Welcome to Helping Families Thrive
We aim to support families with evidence and empathy.
Support that understands both the science and the reality of parenting and family life.
Helping Families Thrive provides psychological support for parents and families who are overwhelmed by mixed messages, impossible expectations, and the very real challenges of raising humans. Parenting can be deeply meaningful and deeply exhausting at the same time.
Support here is shaped by academic research, extensive clinical experience, and lived parenting experience across foster, kinship, adoptive, and biological roles. That combination allows therapy to be structured, evidence-based, and practical—while remaining real, compassionate, and grounded in everyday life.
The work focuses on helping parents live values-driven, authentic lives, even when things feel chaotic. Therapy is active and intentional, offering space for honesty, challenge, and growth rather than aimless venting. The goal is not perfect parenting, but a life that feels more aligned, sustainable, and possible.
Let Us Help You Navigate the Art & Science of Parenthood
The team of psychologists at Helping Families Thrive has dedicated our careers as researchers and clinicians to improving families’ well-being. Through decades of this work, we have witnessed the powerful transformation that evidence-based intervention can bring to families.
Through the joys and confusions of parenthood, we were fortunate to rely on these tried-and-true scientific frameworks to get through the rough patches. As friends and colleagues since grad school, we have supported each other as we navigated the many paths into parenting, including biological parenthood, adoption, foster parenting, and kinship care.
When we had children ourselves and began looking at parenting information online, we realized that:
There is a concerning gap between the information most parents have access to and the rigorously researched tools we know really work.
Our mission at Helping Families Thrive is to bring parenting science to the everyday parent.
Parenting is Hard Enough
You don't need to navigate it alone.
Through Helping Families Thrive, we use an authentic and humorous approach to layer scientific knowledge with our real-world experiences as parents. We provide you with a compass to cultivate a healthy relationship with your child.
Work with us to realign with your values and make your daily actions consistent with what matters most.
Resources and Services
One of the best things about this program was the full family support. It was so important for both my husband and me to attend, to ensure that information wasn’t being filtered through one of us (or simply forgotten in the rush of daily life) and to help us both get on the same page
"Shanna is an extraordinary leader. She is insightful, inspiring and real.
She gives so much of herself to the class – from extremely helpful, illuminating and sometimes hilarious examples from her own personal life to extra support when families are struggling – that every family felt completely supported throughout the 18 weeks.
justine c.
"Our daughter has absolutely thrived through this program.
She has learned so much about managing her own behavior and responding appropriately to others, and she has gained tremendous awareness of her own emotions and what she can do to help herself get and stay calm, even in challenging times.
alissa g.
Our Amazing Team
Dr. Heather Davis, Ph.D.
- Licensed Psychologist
- Direct Therapy Services
- Child Therapy Lead
TRUSTED BY EDUCATORS
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