Dr. Yvonne Gustafson is a parent educator, author and go-to consultant for businesses, organizations and media.
Contact Dr. Y for:
Private consult, in-person, telephone or Skype
Workshops, presentations and speaking engagements
Parent-educator-in-residence program for large organizations
Lunch & Learn/Brown Bag events
Classes, series and facilitated groups
Dr. Yvonne Gustafson
Once called “the manual children should come with,” Dr. Y is a parent educator, author and go-to consultant for businesses, organizations and media. For many years she was the resident educator at a major US hospital, and the wise and compassionate voice on the other end of a Parent Helpline.
With her deep understanding of child development and constant attention to parental needs, stressors and overall family dynamics, she provides solutions that work, that build parent confidence and that ready parents for their next challenge.
Contact Dr. Y for:
Private consult, in-person, telephone or Skype
Workshops, presentations and speaking engagements
Parent-educator-in-residence program for large organizations
Lunch & Learn/Brown Bag events
Classes, series and facilitated groups
Dr. Yvonne Gustafson
Once called “the manual children should come with,” Dr. Y is a parent educator, author and go-to consultant for businesses, organizations and media. For many years she was the resident educator at a major US hospital, and the wise and compassionate voice on the other end of a Parent Helpline.
With her deep understanding of child development and constant attention to parental needs, stressors and overall family dynamics, she provides solutions that work, that build parent confidence and that ready parents for their next challenge.
Core Beliefs
You are the expert on your own child.
Dr. Y will give you helpful ideas and a gentle nudge to frame the problem in a positive way. She’ll offer concrete strategies and tools, all based in an understanding and respect for both parent and child. But because you know your child the best, she will ask again and again: What do you think? What does your gut tell you?
Framing the problem is key to solving it.
Sometimes we can misinterpret children or take their actions personally. But, almost always there is something else going on. Our approach always involves looking at the child’s developmental perspective—the child’s needs and abilities and un-adult-like experience of the world.
You want clear & ready-to-use solutions.
Good advice is equipment, ready to use at a moment’s notice. This is why Dr. Y offers sample scripts and real world scenarios. It’s why she focuses on actions and words, down to the detail of how to hold your body or how to tone your voice.
Parenting is an art and a skill.
We don’t hand a 16-year-old a license and say “Go Drive.” Few of us start our careers without some kind of education or training. Yet, even though it’s called the hardest and most important job, parents are expected to simply wing it. Childbirth education was rare until the late 1970s, but today’s parents expect to learn about delivering their babies. Soon Dr. Y hopes parents will begin to expect and get education, help and support for raising those babies.
You parent from your own value base.
You will be deluged with suggestions from friends, family, doctors, the internet and more. These messages and suggestions invite confusion. Clarity comes as you act based on your knowledge of your child and your understanding of yourself, your values and the context of your family.