Chris Christensen · Certified Parent Coach

Who I am

I am a careful listener, and a life-long learner. I delight in finding connections between different ideas and work to synthesize my wide range of past experiences into my coaching. When traveling, I love to immerse myself in the culture, to learn the differences and similarities among people and cultures. My travel experiences, my teaching experiences, my mediation experiences, and my continuing educational experiences keep me open to see the individual differences in my coaching clients and their family members. I am always thinking – ALWAYS. I have wonderful friends. My favorite saying is, "Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused."

What I believe

Today’s families face unprecedented challenges. Our current work-driven culture de-values human relationships. Media - including television, computers, video, electronic games – gobble time for teaching skills to children and for play. Our work-driven, media-saturated culture inhibits the development of human imagination. Imagination is crucial for understanding other people and cultures, for dreaming about our future, for picturing the consequences of one’s actions. Imagination is the primary component of creativity and I believe creativity is the primary human attribute and our most important human survival trait. I believe that parent coaching is a creative process.

My Approach to Parent Coaching

My goal as a parent coach is to live out the following quote from Jim Clowes who led the Comparative History of Ideas program at the University of Washington, "Honesty and humility are the catalysts through which the world can be both heard and transformed."

I listen for the truth of the reality of your life: the strengths and experiences that are uniquely yours and your child(ren)’s; the current challenges in your life. We will imagine ways those strengths and experiences can be used to meet those challenges.

I am especially interested in working with families who value relationships, and living whole and healthy lives. Such families face unique challenges as they attempt to live outside the media-saturated lives so common in this culture. My understanding of current brain research can give you tools to create a healthy-brain environment for your family.

My credentials and experience

I am a certified Parent Coach through the Parent Coaching Institute and I am a partner in Sound Parent Coaching. I have two Bachelor of Arts degrees, one in Sociology (1968) and one in Comparative History of Ideas (1998). I have taught piano, worked as an Office Manager, been a classroom volunteer, a community volunteer, a Sunday School teacher, and have facilitated small group discussions about history, culture and religion. In 2003, I served as program advisor in a University of Washington study abroad program in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In addition, I am currently training to become a certified mediator. My husband and I have been married for 35 years. Although there were many challenges along the way, he and I have raised a wonderful son to functional adulthood. . . . And this is a good thing!

Contact Information

Sound Parent
P.O. Box 11272
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

Contact us by phone at 206-855-9364

Email: chris@soundparent.com