We Aim to support families with evidence and empathy
About Helping Families Thrive
Support for Families That Holds Both Evidence and Real Life
Parenting does not happen in theory. It happens in the middle of exhaustion, competing advice, and the daily pressure to get it right. Support through Helping Families Thrive recognizes both the science of child development and the lived reality of family life.
This work is informed by:
- Evidence-based research and well-established psychological frameworks
- Extensive clinical experience working with children, parents, and families
- Lived parenting experience, including foster, kinship, adoptive, and biological parenting
That combination allows support to be structured and practical, while remaining human, compassionate, and responsive to real-world complexity.
The focus is on helping parents:
- Let go of impossible expectations and unhelpful “shoulds”
- Reconnect with personal and family values
- Take meaningful steps toward change without losing acceptance
- Build a life that feels more aligned, sustainable, and humane
This is not about perfect parenting or quick fixes. The work supports families in living well, even when things feel hard, messy, or unfinished.
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.
"Dr. Alvarez 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 the Helping Families Thrive 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.
Helping Families Thrive is a dedicated safe space for, and an ally and accomplice to, LGBTQ+, immigrant, and underrepresented communities. Inclusion, equity, and dismantling are core values we are dedicated to fostering and growing within ourselves and our work.
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.
Helping Families Thrive supports you in realigning with your values and making your daily actions consistent with what matters most.
Our mission at Helping Families Thrive is to bring parenting science to the everyday parent.
Resources and Services
Our Amazing Team
Dr. Heather Davis, Ph.D.
- Licensed Psychologist
- Direct Therapy Services
- Child Therapy Lead
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
TRUSTED BY EDUCATORS
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