Barbara Desmarais

Barbara Desmarais has been working in the area of children and families for over 30 years. Her formal background is in Early Childhood Education which led to work in preschools and daycare centers. She went on to work with children with special needs in particular, deaf children. She worked with deaf and hard-of-hearing children and adults in a variety of settings for many years .

In 1988 Barbara was invited to lead a parenting course for deaf parents which introduced her to the field of parent education. At that time she was raising her own young family including her twin, deaf step-sons. For several years she led the course "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk" by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. She also taught "S.T.E.P." (Systematic Training for Effective Parenting) by Gary McKay and Don Dinkmeyer. From there she went on to design her own parenting workshops based on the philosphy of the courses she had been teaching. She was also inspired by the work of Barbara Coloroso. In her workshops she shares a lot of her own personal experiences raising her 4 children. Her coaching has been described as "life changing."

Barbara began training as a life coach in 2002. Coaching parents was a natural niche to step into. She coaches parents privately over the telephone and presents workshops in the Vancouver, British Columbia area. She has been a guest on many radio shows and podcasts. She is also a regular contributor to "Today's Parent" magazine.

Barbara has been a student of the Law of Attraction since 2002 and is working towards certification from the Law of Attraction Training Center. She often incorporates the LOA into her coaching.