Black and white photo of Heidi Garcia with infant son, sitting on beach with pier in background. Heidi is wearing sunglasses and smiling while the wind blows her dark hair in her face. Baby is wearing a bucket hat and plaid shirt.

Hi! I’m Heidi.

I believe that peaceful parenting has the power to change the world. I also believe that the key to this change is supporting parents and caregivers so they don’t feel shame or overwhelm and don’t overcomplicate things.

For years, I “white knuckled” my way through Peaceful Parenting.

I’d stopped yelling (for the most part) but—as my son would often remind me—I was still easily frustrated and stressed out. There was such a long list of “things not to do” if you didn’t want to mess up your child and so much of the advice I was given by other peaceful parents didn’t feel responsive to my child’s actual needs, even if it made sense in light of his reflexive reactions.

My family and I needed an approach tailored to us.

And so do you.

That’s why my process is a bit different. We start by diving into the neuroscience and polyvagal theory so that you can understand what’s going on beneath the surface for your child AND yourself, and then build a plan to support you based on where you and your child actually are and help you grow your capacity to parent the way the research says you should instead of pushing past your body’s natural limitations.

Using the “instruction manual” of the autonomic nervous system and your goals, we will co-create a personalized roadmap for how you can best support yourself and your child.

Is this individualized approach the kind of support you need to take your parenting to the next level so you can feel confident, at ease, happy, and like your child’s best bet?

My Qualifications

  • Peaceful Parenting - Trained with and certified by Dr. Laura Markham; 8+ years practicing peaceful parenting in my own highly sensitive and neurospicy family; have studied with and learned from numerous additional people in the peaceful parenting world, including Dr. Gordon Neufeld

  • Mindfulness and Meditation - Graduate of Mindful Parenting Teacher Training with Hunter Clarke-Fields; graduate of Mindful Self-Compassion course (not a train-the-trainer course) through Mindfulness Northwest

  • Somatics and the Nervous System - Currently training with Robyn Gobbel, author of Raising Kids With Big, Baffling Behaviors; Soma School Assistant; student of Soma School and Soma Seasons with Veronica Rottman (a/k/a Waking Womb); additional studies with Sarah Baldwin and Ruby Rose Fox.

  • Former Biglaw Litigator

Behind the Curtain

  • Even though I recognize that it isn’t exactly science-backed, I have found personality typing to be extremely accurate and fully see myself as an INTJ, Enneagram 6, and 5/1 Generator.

  • I am unabashedly progressive and empathetic in my political views, but it doesn’t always looks like it because I have little appetite for performative activism or the “Woke Olympics” and I am a deep thinker who sees the complexity in situations even when I feel strongly about what is right.

  • I don’t believe in the “just keep scrolling” idea of avoiding conflict online because, while there’s no point arguing with trolls, the idea prevents us from growing our understanding and community.

  • I’m not nearly as serious as all this makes me sound. I love travel, food, and beautiful (sometimes expensive) things, and every year I recommit to reading more fiction than nonfiction. (I haven’t managed that one yet, but at some point it will happen.)

The Nitty Gritty

  • I live in Seattle, Washington (U.S.A.) but while I do meet with local clients in person, the majority of my work is online, and so I can proudly say that I work with people all over the world.

  • All families benefit from parent coaching. The only real prerequisite to working with me is that you be open to connection-based and non-punitive parenting methods.

    That said, the majority of my clients have been trying to practice peaceful parenting for at least six months and/or one or more member of the family (parents or children) is gifted, highly sensitive, ADHD, and/or anxious.

  • I mostly offer coaching, but also some courses. For more information on my offerings, check out the work with me tab.

  • My email address is heidi@heidigarciaparenting.com. I usually respond to messages within 48 hours.

Does working with me feel like the next right step for you and your family?

Get to know my style better by downloading my free “Embody Peace” workbook.

Do you follow me on Instagram?

You CAN yell less! No matter how many times you’ve tried and failed, I believe you can do it. But you might need to try something new. Rather than digging in to your past, focus on today. Two more ways you can do this: 💜 Repeat a mantra t
Bet you haven’t thought of adding something to the schedule so you could get more sleep.

The more connected our kids feel to us, the more likely they are to cooperate with us.

Knowing this, it makes sense that your first thought was to try to
If you are the parent of a neurodivergent child, I bet you’ve felt this way.

(Even if you aren’t, you may have felt this way. But based on my conversations with parents, I think it is especially common among parents whose kids are neurod