You don’t have to figure this out alone.

Hi, I’m Michelle

Two decades in the room with families during their hardest moments.

I spent over two decades working in behavioral health and family crisis intervention, much of that time responding to the moments families fear most: crisis, trauma, and the breakdown of trust between a parent and child. As a crisis responder in hospital behavioral health units, I sat with kids in their worst moments and worked to de-escalate, stabilize, and reconnect them with the people who love them. As a family intervention specialist, I’ve spent countless hours inside the actual homes of families whose teens were at risk: not in an office, but at the kitchen table, in the hardest conversations, helping parents and teens rebuild safety, communication, and trust in the middle of real life. Alongside that work, my background as a Special Victims Unit detective gave me additional training in forensic interviewing with children and teenagers and in testifying in court to protect them.

Most parents I work with are trying to hold two things at once: warmth and structure, compassion and consequences, connection and accountability. It’s one of the hardest balances in raising a teenager, and very few people are trained in both halves of it. My behavioral health and in-home family intervention background taught me how to understand what’s really driving a teenager’s behavior: the anxiety, the shame, the disconnection underneath it, and how to help a whole family heal together. My law enforcement background, especially my years in the Special Victims Unit, adds another layer: knowing how to hold boundaries and accountability firmly, without losing the relationship in the process. I bring all of that training to every family I coach, so you don’t have to choose between being the parent who understands and the parent who holds the line: for yourself, and for your teenager.

Today, I bring that same experience into a different role: walking alongside parents and caregivers as a coach. As a family intervention specialist, I’ve worked directly inside homes with families whose teens are at risk: helping them navigate crisis, rebuild trust, and create real safety, communication, and connection, without losing hope or losing each other. As a Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Facilitator, I help people process the hardest moments of their lives so they can move forward instead of getting stuck.

I’m currently completing my Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling, and I hold certifications in trauma-informed crisis de-escalation, forensic interviewing with a child and adolescent focus, and motivational interviewing: tools I use every day to help families move from conflict to connection.

“I’m not coming to you with a textbook. I’ve been in the room during the worst days a family can face: custody battles, abuse investigations, suicide risk, addiction, runaway teens, and I’ve seen what actually helps.”

Based in Salem, Oregon, I provide in-person coaching in the Salem area, and virtual coaching for families across the United States. I work with parents and caregivers raising teens dealing with anxiety, depression, self-harm, substance use, defiance, or disconnection. My goal is simple: to help you feel less alone, more equipped, and more confident holding both compassion and boundaries with the teenager you love.